Category Archives: Sales

Selling your product or service

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For a Few Dollars More: Up-selling and Second Helpings

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Business has been rather soft for the past several quarters,  thanks to the tanking you-know-what and alas,  the sales girls at Saks and Neiman’s have not seen me for a while. When cash was in hand,  I built up quite the wardrobe.   I shopped prodigiously and wisely and my outfits still look good (thank you Donna Karan!).

Now when I look for something to wear to a meeting or party,  I must shop in my closet.  Lately,  I’ve been thinking of ways to apply that practice to my business.  How can I wring more action out of what I already have in-house?

In terms of resources expended and conversion rates,  maximizing business opportunities within one’s client roster is easier and more cost-effective.  I pretty much know what my clients want from me.  Still,  I wonder if there are ways to up-sell or entice with additional services? I wonder if I might have opportunities within other departments in an organization?

To figure it out,  I did some low cost market research.  As usual,  the best way to learn what clients need is to directly ask them.  Inviting  a  client to lunch or coffee,  away from workplace distractions,  sets the stage for a productive  exchange of information.

A good conversation opener is to inquire about new initiatives and/or challenges  in the client’s organization.  Ask next what you might adjust re: delivery of services,  service offerings and business practices that will make things easier for your client.  From there,  review the full list of your services.  Clients often will not remember all that you do.  This information alone may inspire your client to envision new roles for you,  perhaps even in those coveted other departments in the organization.

Guide the conversation to become  a  brainstorming session that will reveal where,  when and by whom value-added up-sells would be appreciated.  Arrange introductions to decision makers and obtain important endorsements of your work.  Learn the names and titles of gatekeepers and key influencers.

Client needs fall into two buckets:  anticipated and unanticipated.  The former needs are what you and your client will discuss over lunch.  You may be able to propose how your services can address some of these needs.  They are organizational goals and objectives and have a budget and timetable attached.

The latter needs require good  luck and timing on your part.  Maintaining communication will improve your odds of hitting the jackpot.  These client needs are ad hoc and often spring up suddenly.  They may constitute  a headache,  if not an emergency,  and they sometimes must be quickly addressed.

Position yourself to be at top-of-mind and viewed as the go-to problem solver by:

1). Meeting or exceeding client expectations every time.

2). Creating follow-up opportunities that are not perceived as either desperate or  annoying.

Some Freelancers like to keep a calendar,  so that they will remember to contact clients at regularly scheduled intervals,  sometimes with a newsletter.  The receipt of relevant information is usually welcome,  but my advice is to tread lightly.  Many vendors may be competing for your client’s attention in various ways and saturation point will eventually be reached.  Respect boundaries at all times.

My standard approach is to announce a new workshop to clients,  whether or not I expect them to buy.  Someone could surprise me! Client needs evolve in response to changes in the business environment,  as do yours and mine.  What was brushed off last year may be important now.

Sending news of a workshop is a  “safe” way to contact clients.  It violates no boundaries;  it demonstrates my expertise;  and it will get my name into their prefrontal cortex,  so that if an unanticipated need arises or unexpected money is dropped into their budget,  I”ll be more likely to receive an email.

A clever and indirect method of client contact is to make a referral.  You will receive  significant validation when that third party contacts your client and lets them know that you made the recommendation.

Maintaining contact with clients post-assignment is an effective strategy to mine additional revenue from your client list.  For $20.00 or less,  you can  invite your client  to update you on anticipated needs and learn about  new organization  priorities,  concerns,  fresh business opportunities for you and the decision makers and influencers who control access,  plus get advice on how to improve your business practices and hone your competitive edge.  Additionally,  you will learn how to craft a sales pitch based on selling points that you will emphasize when promoting those same services to similar clients,  new or current.

To attract revenue from unanticipated client needs,  devise unobtrusive ways to maintain the contact by offering value to the client.  Announce  new services,  speaking engagements or classes;  send a newsletter if you dare;  make strategic referrals;  maybe send links to articles that you know will be of special interest.  Make it a point to extract more sweet water from the well.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Cold Call Clinic

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Recently,  I suggested to my friend Regina that she cold call a local venture capital firm. I’d read about the company and, thinking of Regina, visited the website.  It looked like a good fit,  so I forwarded the link for her review.

Regina is a Freelancer who specializes in evaluating the market potential for incubator stage life sciences products.  Small companies and start-ups often seek out venture capital or angel investors to obtain financing for further research and development or a  product launch.  Both the VC/angels and the company must be certain of the financial potential of the new product.  Regina is hired to make that assessment and issue her findings.

She and I worked together in sales for several years and she is well versed in the art of cold calling.  Although several tactics can be instituted to  “warm up”  a cold call via referrals/introductions,  networking,  or speaking/teaching,  sometimes it is necessary to plunge in,  pick up the phone and try to wrangle an appointment with someone who could become a client—if you can convince them!

Here are steps you can take that will improve your cold calling skills and give you another way to expand your client base:

Do your homework
First,  verify that your services are likely to be of value to your prospect.  Visit the company website.  Conduct an internet search and learn what has been written about the company recently and which execs have been quoted in the media.  Read up on the industry to find out what hot issues are getting press coverage.  If possible,  deduce which competitor could be doing business with your prospect and what unique benefits are offered.  Can you sell against that?

Ask around to your colleagues and inquire as to who may know this prospect,  or have a contact at the company.  Can an introduction be arranged? You may discover that your prospect belongs to a certain organization that you can visit.  Maybe you’ll cross paths?

Write a script
If you must call or email the prospect,  assemble your talking points in advance. Brainstorm the most appealing benefits and other selling points,  where you see alignment between your services and the prospects’  apparent needs and smooth answers to anticipated objections.

Devise  2–3  questions to ask that will show you’ve done your homework and will clarify prospect needs.  Remember to identify who makes the decision to hire.  Smart questions put the finishing touches on the pre-qualifying process.

Open with benefits
“What’s in it for me?”  is the question on everyone’s mind.  Whether your initial contact is a serendipitous face to face or by email or telephone,  you’ll have to sell your prospect and maybe the gatekeeper, too with compelling benefits if you want to get invited to the office.

After you briefly introduce yourself,  your company and services,  ask if  it is a convenient time to talk.  Your respect for their time will earn you points.  If granted a minute to talk,  paint a quick picture of how benefits you bring will provide  valuable solutions.

Listen well
Allow your prospect to talk about their business needs.  The information given will help you to position your services and verify—or rule out—your theory of alignment between the two of you.  Ask questions when necessary.  Remember that selling is a conversation and not a monologue.

Confirm agreement
If your prospect has been amenable to your sales pitch,  ask to continue the discussion at the office or over coffee or lunch—whatever is most convenient for the prospect.  There may not be an offer of immediate work,  but consider it relationship building and getting a foot inside the door.

Objections
If your prospect balks,  acknowledge the hesitation and ask for clarification.   Have you misunderstood something? Is there no budget available for the project? Is there a relationship with a competitor? Is there no perceived need for your services?

If the prospect works with a competitor,  ask about the types of projects that are outsourced.  Diplomatically mention your expertise in handling such projects.  If the prospect sees no need for your services,  ask how solutions are achieved or problems resolved? Again, diplomatically soft-sell and plant the seed.  However, do not start a wrestling match. You want to leave a positive impression,  even if you do not get the chance to have a meeting.

Referral
If the call has gone well (and it will!) but you still don’t get an appointment,  ask your erstwhile prospect if he/she can point you in the right direction and refer you to someone they know who might benefit from your services.  Be certain to ask whether or not you can use their name.   Even if you don’t get a client,  you might get a referral.  Equally important,  you will have interacted with an important person who will remember you favorably should your paths cross again.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Referral Etiquette Part II

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There are three groups where one can find and groom good referral sources:  clients,  colleagues and friends/family.  Good referrals begin with good relationships.  In addition to providing excellent services that fulfill client expectations, developing and maintaining solid professional and social relationships is paramount. The ability to clearly and succinctly describe the services you provide,  your typical clients and the problems that your services solve is also important.  Finally, be willing to make the first move in the referral game.  If you initiate referrals,  you are likely to receive them in return.

Know what you want
Before going off in search of referrals, think about what you’d like to achieve when meeting prospects.  You’ll want more than some fuzzy idea of how you like to meet people in a particular industry.  Clarify which job title is likely to be the hiring decision maker for your service and the usual goals or business challenges that drive the need for your category of service.

Then you can be clear and precise in your referral requests and will be able to craft the right introductory pitch.  Moreover, clarity will help associates to think of you as they themselves network.  You and your friends and colleagues  can then function as a referral network  for one another

Know who to ask
If you’ve worked for a client on two or three projects and have developed a comfortable relationship with your contacts, let them know that you are always looking for new business and can they recommend someone with whom you can follow up? You may not receive an immediate answer, but the seed will be planted.  Also, there will be no pressure on the client to give a name if they prefer not to do so.

If a referral is made, be sure to get approval for using that person’s name and confirm that if asked, that person feels they know you and your work well enough to provide a good recommendation.  Make it easy and comfortable to refer your services. This approach also works for obtaining referrals through social relationships.

Follow up within one month
While your name is still fresh within the mind of the referral source,  make the call or send the email and get the ball rolling.   Do not let the trail go cold and squander the opportunity.

Failure to appropriately follow up on a referral is deadly.  It happened to me a couple of times and I shall not forget it and I certainly will never refer either of them again.  In fact, I severed ties with both parties.

In one case,  I referred a young lady who launched a bookkeeping business when she was my student at the Center for Women & Enterprise business plan writing course.  A restaurant owner friend of mine  was desperate for that service and I was happy to make the connection.  For reasons that will forever baffle me, the bookkeeping entrepreneur was always too busy to follow up, despite confirming that she looked forward to meeting a prospective client. The young lady was unmoved by urgent emails sent to her by both the restaurant proprietor and myself. The restaurant owner forgave me, thank heaven, and we remain on good terms.

In the other case, a woman with a 20 year career and an MBA called a potential prospect too hastily, before I could confirm the other party’s interest in her services.  I suggested that MBA lady check out the website of someone whom I had literally just met and let me know if she saw some alignment.

If things looked promising, my plan was to invite the prospect to likewise peruse the website of MBA lady.  If all agreed,  I would make the connection. Unfortunately, MBA lady took it upon herself to contact the prospect, whom I had met a mere three hours before,  claiming that I had made the referral! I was furious. The prospect did not love it and has been cordial but cool to me ever since.

Thank your referral source
Remember to thank your referral source ASAP. Even if business is not done,  it is wise to let your source know that you appreciate their confidence in you and respect their generosity. Whatever happens,  let your referral know the outcome.  Referrals are vital to the survival of your business. They are a special favor and should not be taken lightly. This simple courtesy will encourage more good referrals for you.

Thanks for reading,
Kim

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Referral Etiquette Part I

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I love to connect people.  If I can bring people together and set them on the road to doing some business, then I am a happy girl.  Just last week I was able to connect Dave and Denise.

Denise was my former student in the business plan writing course that I teach at the Center for Women & Enterprise cweonline.org.  Denise is a smart cookie:  a  no-nonsense, ex-Lotus,  seasoned professional who was savvy enough to see a need within the small business milieu for the competencies she had honed in the corporate sector and disciplined enough to successfully transfer those competencies into her own business venture.

At CWE,  Denise wrote the plan that launched her tele-sales call center business.  Denise sets up permanent or temporary call centers for organizations that require an inside sales force.  She works with business owners or department managers to discuss the product/service that will be sold,  works with that person to articulate key selling points and benefits,  advises the owner/manager on how to run the call center, trains the tele-sales staff and is available for follow-up advice.  She has a good business.

Dave is a colleague in a Cambridge Chamber of Commerce sponsored networking group cambridgechamber.org.  Dave works with businesses that are looking to upgrade their telecommunications systems,  or better integrate those systems with other IT functions. He is often brought into a workplace that is relocating or making space changes within its current location.

Dave’s challenge  is lead generation.  Experience has shown him that personal outreach, rather than direct mail or email campaigns,  is the best way to find prospects.  He had wondered if  it would be more efficient to hire one or two part time sales people to make calls and pre-qualify prospects for his follow-up.  After pondering the notion for a few months,  he announced his intention to pursue that strategy at our monthly networking meeting.  I immediately suggested that he speak with Denise and sent him her contact information, urging him to use my name.

Dave contacted Denise a few days later. They met for coffee and discovered that they know a few people in common.  They also confirmed that Dave’s inside sales force plan is likely to reap the desired benefits.  Both parties emailed to thank me for the referral and let me know that they will work together on the lead generation tele-sales project.

So  my referral was successful.  You can do that, too.  Next week,  I’ll give a few useful tips that will help you create winning referrals,  whether you give or receive (the idea is to do both!).  Until then, remember that  people do business with people they know and like.  They do  more business with people they trust and respect.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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The Best Prospects

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We are all looking to expand our client base and bring in more business.  Most of us are out there spreading the word about our products and services, meeting and greeting, delivering an expert elevator pitch to whomever will listen and positioning ourselves as experts within our field.

If the gods smile, our efforts will deliver unto us a decision maker and a real sales call. How can one increase the odds of making that happen? Effective prospecting is the method.  Prospecting is a vital function for all Freelancers and business owners.  If  the goal is to have a successful business, then we must make a practice of continually replenishing our sources of potential clients.

First,  let us dispense with the myths.  Prospecting is NOT sales.  Prospecting is a tactical function of sales.   It is the process of identifying and qualifying businesses and individuals who have the potential to become paying customers.

Prospecting is NOT a numbers game. Time = money and you have no time to chase so-called prospects who have a low probability of becoming a customer. You want only those with motive and money to hire you or patronize your business.

Prospecting need NOT be hugely time consuming.  Plan to budget about 15% of your weekly or monthly calendar for prospecting.  Make the time to keep your pipeline filled.

Contrary to common belief,  prospecting is NECESSARY even when billable hours are high and sales are strong.  Because business always waxes and wanes,  it is important to use the good times to create opportunities that will sustain  in the lean times.

So let’s think strategically about the prospecting function.  Start by identifying your key customer groups.  Do you typically work within certain industries? Why not target other businesses within that industry as likely prospects? Your experience within those industries will provide the trust factor that your prospects will appreciate.  You will  know the usual priorities, concerns and preferred benefits.

Are you a member of a business association? Do you have visibility within the group? Are any of the members your clients? Have you made good referrals for any members? Think about  which member businesses could benefit from using your  products or services.  Leverage your proximity to these targets to learn more about their businesses.  Once again, the trust factor will be on your side, especially if a member or two are clients of yours or you are visible in the association.

This approach can also work with job titles.  For instance, who usually hires you–the VP of marketing, the CEO, the CFO, or the director of development? Target that title as you prospect.  Prior experience will have taught you what will resonate with these individuals, thus adding to your  credibility.

Once you’ve developed a list of targets, devise an approach.  Might any of your colleagues have contacts within these organizations? Do company names appear in the online member listing of the chamber of commerce or neighborhood business association? Is there a trade show coming up that the prospect –or company representative–  may possibly attend (trade show sponsors are ususally listed on the show’s website)?

When you meet someone at the targeted company (oh, happy day!), let the contact/prospect know that you’ve done your homework and see possible alignment between their business and your product.  Emphasize outcomes and benefits.  Aim to schedule a time for further discussion with either the ultimate prospect or someone who can substantively influence the decision.

If you are met with an objection, handle it with aplomb.  If the answer is, “we already have someone” inquire about current or recent projects.  Offer a comment or two that displays your expertise in the subject. You may discover that the objection was just a smoke screen.

If the answer is ” I have to think about it”,  let the person know that you  respect their desire to make an informed decision.  Ask what information might assist the decision, who else in the organization you might speak with and when you can follow up?

The objective is to get a dialogue going and not get shut down.  If you choose your prospects wisely and plan a good approach,  you are guaranteed to bring in at least a mid-level client nearly every quarter.  Now get busy!

More next week,

Kim