Articles by Colleen Francis on ArticleSnatch.com

Pipeline reviews: asking tough questions to close more business

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:38:47 -0400

Music teaches us valuable lessons we can apply to a sales organization. An accomplished musician will tell you that one of the most important skills they need to have in their profession is the ability to listen to the music. It’s not enough to just play your instrument. You need to have a critical earand listen to what’s going on around you. Similarly in sales, professionals need to be able to think beyond the accounts they are responsible for, and to be objective about every aspect of what comprises their pipeline. Sounds simple, right? Wrong! Far too often, sellers make the mistake of trusting their unchecked assumptions and are blinded by what might actually be happening on an account. Like the musician who performs without listening, when things don’t get done the way they should, mistakes happen, business gets lost, or time is wasted on deals that aren’t ready to close. That’s why in a sales organization, a detailed pipeline review should be held at the start of every month. **End Summary** Topics: sales training programs]]> sales training]]> sales trainer]]> selling techniques]]> sales training seminar]]> sales management training]]> colleen francis]]> engage]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Engage's online NewsletterÂ Sales FlashÂ and a FREE 7 day intensive sales eCourse:Â www.EngageNewsletter.com .

Who Needs Video? 5 Strategies for Making Text Testimonials Sell

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 04:01:29 -0400

Who Needs Video? 5 Strategies for Making Text Testimonials Sell Chris and I often speak to customers about what type of testimonials are being used. And more often than not, we get a very embarrassed response saying something like we're only using text testimonials currently. In fact, in our own recent survey, we found that 60% of respondents were only using text testimonials. The problem is that these days, there is a lot of talk about needing to get video on your web site. As a result, those who don't have video testimonials often feel that there is no point in using the text testimonials that they do have. And this is a critical mistake. Why? There is no argument that video testimonials are effective but compared to not using any social proof, using text testimonials is infinitely better. And if we apply five simple strategies, we can maximize the effectiveness of text testimonials and provide a big boost for conversion rates on your web site: 1. Ensure Clear Benefit Statements The first strategy is to ensure that the content of your text testimonial is going to speak specifically to the challenges that your prospect is facing. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> market]]> marketing]]> Testimon]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Engage's online Newsletter Sales Flash and a FREE 7 day intensive sales eCourse.

Dont Just Sit There: 5 Strategies for Proactively Getting Testimonials

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 03:58:46 -0400

Don’t Just Sit There: 5 Strategies for Proactively Getting Testimonials Chris and I try to stay pretty active – running and hitting the gym regularly. I have to admit I chuckle every time I see one of those infomercials on T.V. You know the ones, promoting an exotic piece of exercise equipment promising to deliver incredible results… Results that most will probably never achieve. I actually don’t have a criticism about these pieces of fitness equipment. At the end of the day, they are a tool that makes it easier to work out, as long as the user is committed to using it. No piece of fitness equipment can deliver results if it’s under your bed or being used as a drying rack in the basement. The same applies internet marketing. Offering an amazing product or service on your web site won’t deliver results without the discipline of regular marketing efforts to drive prospects to your web site and painstakingly following up. When it comes to collecting testimonials, the same principles apply. Just placing a form on your web site and waiting for clients to arrive will not deliver the results you want. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> market]]> marketing]]> Testimonial Director]]> Marketing Strategies]]> text testimonials]]> video testimonials]]> sales increase]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Engage's online Newsletter Sales Flash and a FREE 7 day intensive sales eCourse.

The Trust Return on Investment, Part 2

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 02:19:58 -0400

In our previous article, we looked at the extremely interesting study by Nielsen who measured Consumer Trust in Advertising Channels. Essentially, they looked at the various ways that a business delivers its message to prospects, and determined the degree to which that prospect trusted that message. In other words, they measured the return in terms of trust. Another interesting aspect of the survey was the contrast between people I know (which the report explains as people viewed by the respondent as a peer) and Consumer opinions posted online. Trust for People I know, that is someone who is similar and recognized to have similar needs is 91% while for Opinions, trust drops to 70%. This data demonstrates that we need to align testimonials to the prospect. For example, if someone comes to your web site, the more the testimonial is from someone similar, facing similar challenges, the more effective it will be. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> market]]> marketing]]> marketing investment]]> Investment]]> business]]> Nielsen]]> testimonials]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Engage's online Newsletter Sales Flash and a FREE 7 day intensive sales eCourse

The Trust Return on Investment, Part 1

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 02:19:35 -0400

If you are like most organizations, your marketing budget has been squeezed and squeezed as customers become tighter with their spending and competitors become more and more fierce. This means that more and more, the return on marketing investment needs to be measured and maximized. As you've read in my previous articles, the business case for testimonials is a slam dunk. Testimonials dramatically improve click through and action rates. It makes sense: social proof makes the prospect view their action as less risky if they see that others have realized the benefit they are seeking. What hasn't necessarily been clear is how this return on testimonials compares to other marketing investments. And I do say return as testimonials do require an investment: the effort to collect, manage and publish them. Enter an extremely interesting study by Nielsen who measured Consumer Trust in Advertising Channels. Essentially, they looked at the various ways that a business delivers its message to prospects, and determined the degree to which that prospect trusted that message. In other words, they measured the return in terms of trust. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> market]]> marketing]]> marketing investment]]> Investment]]> business]]> Nielsen]]> testimonials]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Engage's online Newsletter Sales Flash and a FREE 7 day intensive sales eCourse

Socially-focused selling: spread the word and grow your market

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:38:25 -0400

Socially-focused selling: spread the word and grow your market Success in sales doesn’t just happen. It’s the product of a lot of hard work. However, this entails more than adopting time-honored ways of finding new prospects and closing more deals (although, to be clear, that’s still really important). You also need to take chances and try new things to connect with your audience, and that includes taking a close look at the growing range of socially-focused tools that are available out there these days. Why is this so important? No matter what you sell, the direct audience for your product or service isn’t businesses, organizations or institutions. It’s people. So it’s worthwhile to take a minute and think about common characteristics that we all share. We’re social creatures. Generations of scientific research tell us that human brains are uniquely hard-wired to share stories and interact with others. We’re also reciprocal. When we receive something from others, we tend to want to return the favor, and often we try to emulate that behavior on an ongoing basis. We also value authenticity. **End Summary** Topics: Socially-focused]]> time-honored]]> product or service]]> charac]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen is driven by a passion for sales - and results. A successful sales professional for over 20 years, she understands the challenges of selling in today's market and how traditional sales techniques from decades ago often fall short.

Getting things done without giving up what matters: how I balance my professional and personal li

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:37:22 -0400

Getting things done without giving up what matters: how I balance my professional and personal life. “How can you be so productive in your business and still have time to enjoy a robust personal life?” That’s a question I’m asked often, and in this article I’m going to share with you my response, and as an added bonus, I’ll share with you some best practices for sales professionals in managing one of the most difficult areas of time management: sales calls. To get started, let me state upfront that I’m more than just a self-described workaholic: I’m a focused one. Since I travel often with my business, I bring my work with me on the plane instead of watching movies, and I catch up on my reading while waiting at airports. While on the road, my hotel room is my office. I don’t open the TV cabinet in my room and I make use of my time before bed to catch up on work-related tasks. As I write this, I’m returning from a course in Rhode Island. **End Summary** Topics: productive business]]> robust personal life]]> self-described]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen is driven by a passion for sales - and results. A successful sales professional for over 20 years, she understands the challenges of selling in today's market and how traditional sales techniques from decades ago often fall short.

Be a stealth fighter: what to do when your prospect or customer goes silent

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:36:01 -0400

Be a stealth fighter: what to do when your prospect or customer goes silent It can feel like a soul destroying experience. You leave phone message after phone message with a prospect or an existing customer, and seemingly for no reason at all, your calls go unanswered and unacknowledged. Have they been getting your calls? Did something happen to make them reconsider their decision to buy from you? Are they avoiding you? You just don’t know. What may have happened is that the person you need to reach has gone stealth. They’ve fallen off your sales radar and will stay that way until something makes them choose to re-emerge from their guise of invisibility. This can be really harmful to your productivity as a sales professional. Not only can it undermine your work in meeting your sales targets, it also can put at risk some well-established business you’ve worked so hard to earn with a customer who has bought from you in the past. However, you’re far from helpless in situations like this. All sales professionals—even the top 10% in organizations both large and small—encounter sales that go stealth from time to time. **End Summary** Topics: stealth fighter]]> destroying experience]]> stealth]]> sales profe]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen is driven by a passion for sales - and results. A successful sales professional for over 20 years, she understands the challenges of selling in today's market and how traditional sales techniques from decades ago often fall short.

When it Comes to Testimonials, Looks Count!

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:19:03 -0500

So you've gone through the effort... collecting testimonials and putting them onto every web page, right next to your page copy to provide that critical social proof. You're all done, right? Not so fast. Ask yourself: how do the testimonials look? I don't mean if they are compelling - how explicit are the result?. I don't mean if they are current - are they recent testimonial that have recently been rotated through? I don't mean if they are credible - is the source of testimonials viewed by the reader as their peer? I mean literally, how does your testimonials look? There was a fascinating study conducted by Mike Reining from MindValley Labs. In it, they tested how the appearance of a testimonial impacts click-through rates. Specifically, they compared a very boring, unstyled text testimonial versus the same testimonial dressed up with a punchy font and graphic treatment. Something similar to this: Plain Testimonial: Your widget increased our sales by 100% in three months. Styled Testimonial: “Your widget increased our sales by 100% in three months.” The results? The styled testimonial increased conversion rates by over 200%! **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> customers]]> sales relationsh]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Engage's online Newsletter Sales Flash

Three Must-Have Testimonial Types!

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:18:39 -0500

With written testimonials there are three versions you want to include in your materials. The good news is that you don't have to get three testimonials from each client. You just need to know how to chop up a letter effectively to create the format you need. Here are some examples you can consider for your business Variation 1: A Full letter Always strive to receive a full testimonial letter from your client. Once you have a full letter you can break it into smaller chucks to use in a variety for ways. In a full letter testimonial the letter should include: Client's letterhead A full personal signature Full contact information Details about the program you offered Quantifiable results Here is an example from one of our clients: Company Logo and Letter head June 1st, 2010 Re: Increased Sales through Coaching. Mentoring and Training Dear Colleen: In the first four months of 2010, we hired Colleen Francis and Engage Selling to work with a number of our sales professionals in Ottawa and Toronto - with one to ten years experience - and with enormous success. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> sales relationships]]> Engagi]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Engage's online Newsletter Sales Flash

Canât Get No Satisfaction? Be interesting and show interest in others.

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:18:08 -0500

In sales, it can be tempting to think about your existing customers as loyal and satisfied, simply by virtue of the fact that they’re doing business with you more than once. Don’t trick yourself into that kind of thinking! Loyalty and satisfaction find their roots in something deeper than habit. There needs to be some kind of engaging, emotional connection between you and your audience, and the way you make that happen is through the way you communicate with them. This is where social media can really help. It’s immediate, personal and easy to share. However, as with all other kinds of communications, it’s only going to be effective if what you have to say is engaging to others. Remember, it’s not just the quantity of what you have to say, it’s the quality of your messages that creates engagement. “If you suck in real life, you will suck online.” That’s how Rory Vaden, self-discipline strategist, speaker and author, summed up the problem recently at the National Speakers Association meeting that I attended. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> customers]]> sales relationsh]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Engage's online Newsletter Sales Flash

53 Ways to Use Testimonials

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:17:33 -0500

Unsure how to use rave reviews in your business? Here are 53 ideas every business can implement to help your customers sell for you! In the biographies of all your team members. “Clients say the following about Colleen......” In the biographies of your management team In the biographies of your board of directors On the “about us” write up on your website In a customer forum, or discussions group in a “client only” section of the website or a membership only site In your client profile page. Start and or end with a testimonial In your signature line on emails. Use plain text and add it under your signature – like a P.S. On each internal page of your website down the left hand or right hand margin In sales presentations on PPT slides when talking about each solution you offer a client On the footers of any autoreponder emails In all e-marketing blasts sent by marketing In hard copy marketing materials Create a “what customers are saying about us” **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> customers]]> sales relationsh]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Engage's online Newsletter Sales Flash

The draft approach: the secret to closing more proposals in less time

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:17:05 -0500

“Never let the final proposal be the first proposal they see.” This is advice that I have given many times in Engage webinars and at sales training sessions to salespeople in organizations both large and small, and I’m often asked to explain in more detail what I mean by that. I’m pleased to do so in this article, because what I have to say in that point is absolutely vital for salespeople who want to improve hitting and surpassing their sales targets. The real mastery behind closing more business in less time has far less to do with closing skills than it does with having great command of everything that leads up to the point where you and your customer are ready to seal a deal. Yes, this means more work for you. Let’s face facts: it is a mistake to assume that closing more business hinges on simply persuading people to make the commitment to buy from you at the very end of a sales process. I’m going to be blunt with you. You are not doing your job if you think that way. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> customers]]> sales relationsh]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Engage's online Newsletter Sales Flash

One step ahead: taking control of every sales relationships so you are closing on every conversation

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:16:34 -0500

It has often been said that among the many musical talents of renowned jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie was his skill for blending harmony with the unexpected. He himself summed it up best by saying: “It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play.” Dizzy knew it was never enough to just give an audience what they thought they wanted. He recognized, as is the case with most professionals, that there needs to a discipline to what you do. People tend to be motivated and moved best when you take the lead, with the occasional surprise thrown in for good measure. This is a way of thinking that’s not just limited to jazz musicianship. There’s a lot of insight in there that applies just as much to sales. After all, both involve connecting with people and only those who hone a mastery of their craft are truly successful. Whether you are a business owner or part of a sales team for a medium or large-sized company, your performance as a salesperson is determined by how often you successfully close sales—sealing the deal that translates goods or services into revenue. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> customers]]> sales relationsh]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with skills developed from years of experience, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Engage's online Newsletter Sales Flash

Danger, Will Robinson! Beware of Classic Mistakes when Asking for Referrals

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:26:05 -0400

Referrals can be really powerful selling tools when used correctly and as part of a formalized plan. However, there's a right way and a wrong way to ask for referrals. Too often, sales people and business owners commit classic mistakes in asking for them and assume, based on their disappointing results, that referrals might simply not be worth all the effort. Referrals do work. Working with our own clients at Engage Selling, we've seen closing ratios on sales calls tighten dramatically when referrals are incorporated into the sales script...some as much as three-to-one (in other words, obtaining one sale out every three sales calls placed). Referrals have the potential to connect you to new customers through a network that's built on trust and familiarity. That means there's more on the line than just your own reputation: the person doing the referring has to first be sure they are doing the right thing by recommending you, your products or your services with others. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> customers]]> sales people]]> En]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with proven sales strategies that work in this tough economy, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line.

I Leaving nothing to chance. (Part 1):

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:10:31 -0400

How asking for the facts rather than relying on fiction will lead to more sales To be successful in sales, it’s vital that to you are able to respond quickly and thoroughly to the needs, and often the objections, of your customers. For some, it can be tempting to approach that task by working from a gut feeling and to try and formulate conversation or even responses based on assumptions. In other words, working from what you feel to be true as opposed to what you know to be true. It’s one of the most common mistakes that a sales person can make. Decisions you make in sales based on assumptions aren’t just unwise because they’re based on incomplete (and likely inaccurate) information, it’s also because they’re based on a notion that you understand your customers’ needs without first having checked with them and asking them to define those needs. Instead, you need to ask questions. Not just any question that pops into your head, either. To be effective, you need to make sure you’re asking the right questions in the right manner. So what does that entail. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> customers]]> sales person]]> En]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with proven sales strategies that work in this tough economy, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line.

Picking up your Sales Trash

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:10:02 -0400

One day while I was out on my early-morning oceanside run in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach, Florida, I passed a large group of city workers picking up trash from the waterfront. This is a daily routine in this well-populated area and their work is finished before anyone—well, anyone except the most die-hard running enthusiasts—hits the beach for a dose of sunshine, relaxation and fun. I assume that it costs the city a bit of money to run this operation seven days a week, and I’ll bet that it pays off in their favor. Tourists and other visitors like clean beaches and clean parks, and they stay longer and visit more often in those places that are well kept. So the city keeps on cleaning…the tourists keep spending and the visitors keep on visiting. This activity got me thinking about how we run our businesses, and how we all need to regularly pick up the trash in our sales approach—in other words, doing an inventory of how we interact with prospects and customers and unloading the strategies and selling tools that just aren’t working. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> clients]]> sales person]]> Enga]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with proven sales strategies that work in this tough economy, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Colleenâs online newsletter Engaging Ideas and her FREE 7 day intensive sales secrets eCourse

Get the Power of Word-of-Mouth Working for You: Build a Referral Program for Long-Term Sales Success

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:58:49 -0400

Building great relationships with clients is a cornerstone of a successful career in sales. Achieving this means more than just a benefit for your customers in knowing that they can count on you for the very best in product knowledge and advice, plus after-sales support. You stand to gain as well when those satisfied customers tell their friends and colleagues about you. Referrals have a unique capability in that they have the potential to generate new clients for you without you having to seek out those clients first. Given that kind of power, you'd think that everyone out there would be making good use of referrals, right? Surprisingly very few businesses out there capitalize on word-of-mouth from their existing customers. I've found this to be the case in my discussions with groups during Engage sales training exercises, and I'm not alone. Business guru Tom Peters recalls how he once polled executives at a workshop and asked them what percentage of their customers were giving their businesses all they could, including referrals. He was stunned by the answer: " **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> sales professional]]> Referra]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with proven sales strategies that work in this tough economy, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line.

Step on the Gas: Testimonials Connect with Prospects to Give Your Business Extra Traction

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 02:01:51 -0400

In business, being successful at standing out in a crowd is a skill that comes more naturally to some than others. At the root of that skill is the ability to be memorable, so that your name or that of your company remains top-of-mind for your customers. The challenge is that people don’t all find the same kinds of messages appealing. As students of psychology will attest, our society consists of left-brain and right-brain thinkers. Author Doug Hall zeroed-in on the importance of this in his book, Meaningful Marketing, citing a collection of studies, including research published in the Harvard Business Review, that found that while hard facts appeal most to left-brainers, enthusiastic, emotional-based messages connect more often with right-brainers. So how can you as a sales person best connect with a wide range of buyers who don’t always find the same messages meaningful? This is where testimonials really shine. Not only can the power of word-of-mouth communicate important facts about you and how you can influence a customer’s bottom-line, it can do so in an engaging, personal way unrivalled by any other form of marketing. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> sales professional]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with proven sales strategies that work in this tough economy, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line.

No Ad-Libbing Allowed - Get the Info You Need for an Effective Testimonial

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 04:34:31 -0400

I'm willing to bet that we've all done it. We have a customer who is a great fan, having had a great experience, and agrees to provide a testimonial. So we say, Great! Send it in! And what we end up getting is vague or focuses on an aspect of our product or service that is not going to influence another prospect to buy: I really liked Colleen's presentation - I laughed and had a great time… The meeting facility was beautiful and the food was excellent… Why does this happen? Because we're not providing our customers any help in giving us the type of information we need for effective testimonials. Instead, we need to explicitly state what type of feedback we need to help others make a decision. And be very clear - we are not doing our customers any favours by not being specific. You may feel awkward asking for specific information but put yourself in their shoes: if you're a happy customer, you want to provide feedback that is useful and that can genuinely help - why else would you invest the effort? **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> sales professional]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with proven sales strategies that work in this tough economy, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line.

Six Big Myths About Testimonials

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 06:37:43 -0400

Six Big Myths About Testimonials In a competitive marketplace it's important to use every tool in your sales toolbox to help drive more revenue into your business. Testimonials are, by far, one of the most cost-effective tools at your disposal in that regard. Think about all the great ways they can serve you and your business. In good times and in tough times, testimonials are in abundant supply, they cost next to nothing to procure and they have a shelf life that exceeds just about any other marketing collateral out there. Given these great benefits, you might wonder why they're still underused by many sales people today. I sure do, and it's something I regularly ask of people I meet when conducting sales training sessions: what's your testimonial strategy...and if you don't have one, why not? Over the years, I've listened to a lot of answers to those questions from a range of people in organizations large and small. What I have found at the heart of the problem is that testimonials are often underestimated because incorrect assumptions are made either in the process of collecting them or in how they are used to promote a business. **End Summary** Topics: Social Media]]> testimonial]]> testimonials]]> social proof]]> clien]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis is the Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions - the creators of Testimonial Director. Unleash your secret sales force and reap the rewards: enrol for your FREE 7 day intensive testimonial eCourse: www.TestimonialDirector.com/ecourse

Leveraging Social Media as part of a Referrals Program in Sales

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 07:54:38 -0400

Leveraging Social Media as part of a Referrals Program in Sales "Now, we trust strangers." That's how New York-based Universal McCann sums up their 2008 study on the impact of online social media on society. They note that there has been a real explosion the number of ways in which people can share information and influence decisions. The marketplace used to be run almost exclusively on face-to-face meetings and transactions. Today, that has been transformed into a space occupied by networks of people where social capital is earned and valued. This has important ramifications for sales, because the real power behind social media is how it can help transform you from being a complete stranger into a known quantity even among groups of people you've not even met yet. As marketing and social media strategist Kneale Mann sums up rather nicely, the benefit is that "social media can eliminate the cold part of the call." To be clear, I'm not saying that salespeople and business owners should get out there and post ads all over the place on their favorite social media websites and ask for referrals outright. **End Summary** Topics: Social Media]]> Referrals Program]]> Social Media Tools]]> Leverag]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis is the Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions - the creators of Testimonial Director. Unleash your secret sales force and reap the rewards: enrol for your FREE 7 day intensive testimonial eCourse: www.TestimonialDirector.com/ecourse

Before You Complain About the Economy

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 03:29:23 -0400

By Colleen Francis I think we can agree that the economy is still unstable. While some companies are flourishing others are suffering. Likewise some sales professionals are exceeding their goals and others. I would say about 75% are crying about their poor results blaming the economy. We see it every day at Engage, with sales rep after sales rep not achieving their goals coming to us for advice on how to sell in a slow market. The first comment I make to all of them is this: “If your market has slowed and you have slowed with it you will soon be out of business. So tell me, what have you done to ramp up activity this year? Usually that question is met with silence. And then another complaint about how no one is buying. “No one?” Of course some people are buying, there always is. So my question to you is this: If you market has slowed to a crawl, or maybe only ½ your market’ **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> sales professional]]> economy]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with proven sales strategies that work in this tough economy, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Colleenâs online newsletter Engaging Ideas and her FREE 7 day intensive sales secrets eCourse

#5. Handle objections skillfully

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 03:19:11 -0400

Five great ways to send your sales skyrocketing in 2010 In this five-part series, I’ve shared with you a range of activities that you can engage today to help turbo charge sales in your business"�"-no matter whether you are a sales professional working solo or managing a sales team. I’ve identified for you what you need to do at the front-end of your sales cycle"�"defining your best customers, obtaining referrals and testimonials and making better use of all of these in how you sell to your prospects. I’ve also talked about how to engage your sales math and why this is an important step to take if you’re determined to join the ranks of the top-10 percent of sales performers in your organization. There is one more point that I want to cover in this series, and that’s the importance of doing nothing. You read that right. Nothing. Hear me out, because this is really important. To explain what I mean, let’s start by acknowledging a key fact about sales. Objections are among the biggest challenges that salespeople encounter when working hard to turn prospects into customers. However, they are not insurmountable! **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> sales professional]]> organiz]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with proven sales strategies that work in this tough economy, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Colleen"ï¿½ï¿½s online newsletter Engaging Ideas and her FREE 7 day intensive sales secrets eCourse

#4. Engage your sales math

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 04:19:50 -0400

Five great ways to send your sales skyrocketing in 2010 So far in this five-article series, I’ve focused on what you can do at the front-end of your sales cycle to help generate the great results that you’re looking for in your organization. This entails fine-tuning your prospecting and targeting skills and finding multiple ways to get the word out on the street about your work as a sales professional. Getting that component right is crucial. When you master all aspects of the front-end of the sales cycle, it puts you on a direct path to finding great customers and generating more referrals and testimonials. It also makes selling a lot more fun, because you benefit from selling more to the people you enjoy working with the most. And who doesn’t want that kind of dynamic sales growth, right? Remember that “front-end” describes activities that you need to do really well and to do so consistently, otherwise everything else that follows will likely lead to disappointment. As I remind my clients and readers regularly, it doesn’t matter how good a closer you are. It doesn’t matter if you are the best negotiator in the world. **End Summary** Topics: Colleen Francis]]> Engage Selling]]> sales professional]]> organiz]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Colleen Francis, Sales Expert, is Founder and President of Engage Selling Solutions ( www.EngageSelling.com ). Armed with proven sales strategies that work in this tough economy, Colleen helps clients realize immediate results, achieve lasting success and permanently raise their bottom line. Start improving your results today with Colleenâs online newsletter Engaging Ideas and her FREE 7 day intensive sales secrets eCourse