Who Needs Video? 5 Strategies For Making Text Testimonials Sell By: Colleen Francis | - 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 Trust Return On Investment, Part 2 By: Colleen Francis | - 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.
The Trust Return On Investment, Part 1 By: Colleen Francis | - 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.
When It Comes To Testimonials, Looks Count! By: Colleen Francis | - 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 sou ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, customers, sales relationsh
Three Must-have Testimonial Types! By: Colleen Francis | - 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
Can"t Get No Satisfaction? Be Interesting And Show Interest In Others. By: Colleen Francis | - 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.
53 Ways To Use Testimonials By: Colleen Francis | - 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 & ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, customers, sales relationsh
The Draft Approach: The Secret To Closing More Proposals In Less Time By: Colleen Francis | - “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.
One Step Ahead: Taking Control Of Every Sales Relationships So You Are Closing On Every Conversation By: Colleen Francis | - 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 ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, customers, sales relationsh
Danger, Will Robinson! Beware Of Classic Mistakes When Asking For Referrals By: Colleen Francis | - 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 whe ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, customers, sales people, En
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 ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, customers, sales person, En
Picking Up Your Sales Trash By: Colleen Francis | - 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 anyonewell, anyone except the most die-hard running enthusiastshits the beach for a dose of sunshine, relaxation and fun.
Get The Power Of Word-of-mouth Working For You: Build A Referral Program For Long-term Sales Success By: Colleen Francis | - 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 ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales professional, Referra
Step On The Gas: Testimonials Connect With Prospects To Give Your Business Extra Traction By: Colleen Francis | - 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 thi ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales professional
Before You Complain About The Economy By: Colleen Francis | -
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 o ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales professional, economy
In this five-part series, Ive 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. Ive 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 ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales professional, organiz
So far in this five-article series, Ive focused on what you can do at the front-end of your sales cycle to help generate the great results that youre 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 asp ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales professional, organiz
Its a challenge that even the most accomplished sales professionals have to tackle regularly: how to attract more of the targeted customers who are best suited to help your business thrive. After all, its not enough to know who it is that you want to reach, or even to fine-tune your business habits to emulate the top sellers in organizations of all sizes. You also need to find ways to attract more of those id ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales professional, organiz
#2. Obtain Referrals To Take The Chill Out Of Cold Calling By: Colleen Francis | -
Five great ways to send your sales skyrocketing in 2010
This second article in a series of five pieces will look at referrals and how they can help take the chill out of cold calling. Finding new customers is a major challenge for sales people everywhere and thats reflected in the top questions asked in our recent poll, in which our readers ranked the top sales issues in their respective organizations. That challenge is part of a growing trendone weve been tracking at ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales professional, organiz
#1. Define Your Best Customers And Target Them Relentlessly By: Colleen Francis | -
Five great ways to send your sales skyrocketing in 2010
Recently we surveyed our loyal readers at EngageSelling.com, and asked them what they would rank as this years top sales challenges in their respective organizations. We were really pleased with the feedback we received (and a big thank you to everyone who participated!) To share the results with everyone, weve compiled a new series of articles, called Five great ways to send your sales skyrocketing in 2010. ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales professional, organiz
"top 10 Ways To Increase Sales In 2010" "" Part 2 By: Colleen Francis | -
Its time to finish building our Top 10 List for 2010. This time we look at items 6 though 10. If you missed the first 5 ways to increase sales in 2010 be sure to visit the article archive (http://www.engageselling.com/articles/article-top-ways-to-increase-sales-in-the-new-year.shtml). Enjoy the list and be sure to implement all 10 ideas. I know that you will have a perfect 10 year if you do!
6. Get referrals
"top 10 Ways To Increase Sales In 2010" "" Part 1 By: Colleen Francis | -
Its 2010! And in honor of the new decade I thought we could start of the year with a top 10 list.
We look at the first 5 on our top 10 list. You might notice that the entire list is focused on the front end of the sales cycle. Specifically targeting, prospecting and calling net-new leads. Thats because in order to make sales, you have to have more leads and better quality leads. You might remember that I am particularly fond of the expression every sales problem can ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales professional, increas
Will Your Ship Come In Today? By: Colleen Francis | -
When I am working with private coaching clients I note that ninety-nine times out of a hundred, a lack of consistent revenues is caused by a lack of consistent prospecting. A failure to prospect on a regular basis will inevitably result in irregular revenues, and inconsistent commissions. It's that simple.
This is especially true when we're doing well. It can be so easy to forget about prospecting when we're wrapped up with following a dozen (or so) hot leads, who are ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales professional, ship, p
Don"t Overdo It! By: Colleen Francis | -
Avoid the trap of overselling
Its every salespersons nightmare: the sale that unravels just before the deal has been closed. It happens more often than it should, and overselling is quite often the cause. As sales professionals, its important to recognize that this is a trap that we all can inadvertently set for ourselves. With a little forethought, however, we can learn to avoid making this costly mistake.
Build A Client-retention System By: Colleen Francis | - Selling more in less time includes making sure
you look after existing clients
In an earlier article, I spoke about how important it is for sales professionals to fine-tune the way they attract new clients. The same is true of client retentions. To become a top-ranked sales professional (and to stay there), its vital to have a system running all the time designed specifically to help you hang on to your existing clients so that they call you again and again for new busines ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales people, client-retent
How can I do a better job of gathering new business and new prospects in todays market? Thats a question that I get asked quite often as a sales trainer. Indeed, the simplest answer is that you need to build and sustain a network. In particular, you need one that can help you can get the word out on the street about your products or services, help you build a name for yourself in your industry, and give you support ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, sales professional, sales t
Nineteenth-century Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted gave the world a legacy of discoveries, including one that all of us in sales today can appreciate. Hear me out here, I promise this will be worth it! Oersted discovered electromagnetism, which we can all credit as the basis for many of the comforts of modern life. However, there's another angle to Oersted's story that I find compelling. Electromagnetism, his most ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Engage Selling, Opportunities, business sal
One of the biggest difficulties I have with recessions is that the bad news it generates tends to become like junk food: we know it"s bad for us and yet we eat it up anyways. It is far too easy to get caught up in who is on the losing end of things in a tough market, even though""and let"s face it""that"s what tends to sell in the news business these days.
Building Your Personal Philosophy For Success By: Colleen Francis | - Throughout my career as a sales person and as a sales trainer, Ive noticed that thetop 10% of professionals in this field all share a passion for what they do. Its not just that they have a knack for connecting with people and getting them to buy more goods or services more often. They also put a lot of thought into how they sell, how they work with people, and about why their personal approach works well for them. In essence, top performers have a personal philosophy for suc ... Tags:Engage Selling, Colleen Francis, personal philosophy, sales
Being Honest With Yourself By: Colleen Francis | - Adapted from Honesty Sells (Wiley Publishing) by Colleen Francis and Steven Gaffney
Lying to yourself is one of the worst lies we can tell. First, when we lie to ourselves it affects our attitude and our ability to communicate with others. Second, acting like ourselves is more powerful than trying to act like someone else. That"s why honesty is more effective than mirroring personality profiling or other strategies that seek to forge a false bond with clients.
Voicemail Basics By: Colleen Francis | - More and more sales reps are complaining to me that they are getting stuck, cant get through, cant make direct contact and cant get a return call. And, if I can be frank, its no wonder! Have you listened to the quality of the voice mail messages being left by sales reps who call your office or home? I have. If the calls I am receiving are any indication, its no wonder you may be having trouble.
Step #4: Be shrewd and creative about who you target
No one could hit a baseball the way hall-of-famer Ted Williams could. He knew there was a lot more to becoming a home-run champ than just swinging hard at every pitch. To be a good hitter, Williams once said, you've got to get a good ball to hit.Heres a lesson in there for all of us as sales professionals to apply each ... Tags:Colleen Francis, www.engageselling.com, Be shrewd, creative
In the new economy that is emerging around all of us, one of the key shifts were seeing is in the area of buyer motivation. Today, from consumers to corporate clients, the people who make the decision to buy have one big question on their minds: how can you help reduce my risk?
New Rules For A New Economy By: Colleen Francis | - what successful sales people need to do to thrive in a changing marketplace
It's been called everything from an economic downturn to one of the most important challenges of this generation, and no matter how you choose to define the state of the economy today, everyone recognizes a simple fact: these are game-changing times. Old rules and old assumptions must yield to new ones. And indeed, that transformation is already taking place in businesses and professions of all kinds across N ... Tags:Colleen Francis, New rules, new economy, successful, sales
Make 2009 The Year You Reinvent Your Sales! By: Colleen Francis | - Every January, no matter where you look-magazines, newspapers, TV-everybody talks about how it's time dive in and get a "new you" makeover. Reinventing yourself ought to be about more than just getting a new outfit and haircut. Why not start by making changes where it really counts-in your sales results! More sales in 2009 means more commissionswhich means you'll have more money to really spoil yourself later on.
The first step is to know where you stood at the end of 200 ... Tags:year 2009, reinvent sales, Colleen Francis, www.engagesellin
Caught In The End-of-the-year Trap? By: Colleen Francis | - On the one hand, you've got pressure from your manager to close deals NOW! On the other, you're getting the put off from clients who want to call you back after the holidays, next year!
The end of the year is a time when both you and buyers have fires burning bright and often those priorities conflict with each other. Many times we find that buyers use other priorities as an excuse to put buying decisions on hold. This can be especially bad if your clients tend to be publically traded com ... Tags:Year ends traps, Colleen Francis, engageselling.com, sales
Connecting Emotionally:a Vital Way To Build Deeper, Meaningful Business Relationships By: Colleen Francis | - It's no secret that lasting success in sales, no matter what kind of market you're working in, relies on building and maintaining long-term business relationships with your clients. Indeed, most of us get plenty of advice on activities we can do to help make that happen-from follow-up calls to thank-you notes. As a sales trainer, I've noticed that what's often missing from that advice is a recognition of what needs to come firstthe missing element that is at the root of all great communic ... Tags:Connecting emotionally, Colleen Francis, engageselling.com
Two Magic Words That Help You Get The Results You Want By: Colleen Francis | -
"The trouble with salespeople is that they'll say anything to make a sale." It's a common complaint and while it's true that there are indeed some who give into that kind of temptation, it's doubtful that you'll ever find one who is successful for very long. Top sales performers get to where they are-and stay there-because they are disciplined at what they do and because they communicate persuasively. This includes being choosy with their words-the opposite of saying anything-so they con ... Tags:Colleen Francis, www.engageselling.com, because, never, sale
It's no secret that finding new customers is both time consuming and expensive, but it's worth noting just how much it could be costing you and your organization-no matter what kind of business you're in.
According to Frederick F. Reichheld, author of The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits and Lasting Value, companies in America on average lose half their customers in five years and half their emp ... Tags:Colleen Francis, www.engageselling.com, customers, Velcro
Break Open The Voicemail Clamshell By: Colleen Francis | -
Being effective at prospecting requires that you maintain a steady pace with your sales calls. That's how you ensure your sales funnel remains large enough so that you meet your sales targets year after year (and remember, that funnel has to be three times the value of your targets). In making those calls to new leads and prospects, sales people often complain to me that when they are intercepted by someone's voicemail, it too often becomes a black hole. No matter what you put into it ... Tags:Voicemail clamshell, Colleen Francis, www.engageselling.com
The Art Of Letter Writing- Don't Underestimate The Power Of "from Me To You" By: Colleen Francis | -
One of the most important characteristics that sets top sales performers apart from mediocre sales people is the willingness to try new ideas on a regular basis. Rather than adopting a mindset of no sense doing something that nobody else does," achievers recognize new ideas as opportunities to stand out from the crowd.
I want to share with you one of those "new" ideas today-and that's the art of writing letters. Granted, some of you reading this might be tempted to say "but ... Tags:letter writing art, Colleen Francis, business letters, sales
Ten Things You Absolutely Need To Know About Prospecting By: Colleen Francis | -
Ask any successful sales person and they'll likely admit to you that one of the cold, hard facts about this profession is that you can't sell to everyone. There is always going to be somebody who, for some reason at some time, either will not or cannot buy from you. That's why prospecting is absolutely vital. In fact, it's the number-one activity that you need to do daily-and do well-to achieve long-term success as a sales professional.
Prospecting outranks every other skill and e ... Tags:ten things know about prospecting, Colleen Francis, success
Passion Is No Ordinary Word-channelling The Sales Professional In Every Entrepreneur By: Colleen Francis | -
As a sales trainer, I work with people from all walks of life who share a common goalthey want to learn how to emulate the success enjoyed by the top-ten percent of sales professionals in organizations both large and small.
People have many reasons to be motivated to attain that kind of success and in my experience entrepreneurs are especially driven. Here's why. For them, it's not just a job that's on the line, it's everything. Their livelihood is at s ... Tags:Colleen Francis, Passion, Channels sales professionals, risk
Five Simple Things You Can Do Every Day To Improve Your Bottom Line By: Colleen Francis | -
Whether you're a business owner or part of a company's sales team, it's important to keep your finger on the pulse of the number-one activity that keeps your organization thriving, and that's client prospecting.
New business and repeat sales both put money in the till but this won't happen if you don't have anyone to sell to. However, prospecting is more than just broadening your social network. It's about finding who can and will buy what you ... Tags:Colleen Francis, five simple things, improve bottom lines,
Days where everything that could go wrong, somehow does.
Every sales call ends in a no. Every meeting goes wrong, and it always seems to be your fault. Even your best clients, closest friends or family members suddenly seem like they're no longer on your side.
Price, Price, Price!!! By: Colleen Francis | - Six steps you can take to keep cut-rate competitors from stealing your customers
In the last article, we covered the top mistakes sales people make that can keep them from closing more business. Today, we're going to take a closer look at an all-too common problem: what you can do to close an existing customer when your competition keeps lowering their price.
