Category Archives: Cold Calling

How to get past the gatekeeper, Part 2

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In part 1 of this post, I shared with you two videos from sales experts on how to get past the gatekeeper. In this post, I will share with you two more videos from YouTube.

Melilizwe Gqobo from Hubspace Khayelistsha has an entertaining video below on how to get past the gatekeeper. He argues that if you ask directly for something, people are inclined to give that information to you. Mr. Gqobo also advises you to always be polite and friendly because that will work in your favor.

Here is his video –

Cesar L. Rodriguez, a sales consultant, offers some strategies to get past the gatekeeper. For example, he argues that you shouldn’t sound like a salesperson or be too professional. Instead, sound casual and conversational with the gatekeeper, and try to bluff your way around the gatekeeper by pretending that you are calling to solve a problem. Your goal, Mr. Rodriguez argues, is to go to the top and work your way down until you find the decision-maker.

Here is his video below –

How to get past the gatekeeper, Part 1

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The gatekeeper. Every salesperson’s nightmare. You know what I mean – the person who is preventing you from reaching the decision-maker. How do you get past the gatekeeper?

In the next few posts, I will share with you videos from YouTube from experts who will offer their advice. In my last post, I will offer you my opinions.

Alan Gordon, the author of “The Big Book of Sales,” offers several techniques below in his video on how to deal with “the put-off.” For example, when someone says “just send me something in the mail,” rather than just send it, ask needs development questions to determine exactly what the prospect is seeking. Sure, you can send a bunch of brochures and wait until Hell freezes over before your prospect calls you back; but the better solution is narrowing down what really interests your prospect. Mr. Gordon offers other techniques too.

Here is his video –

Ann Wagner, the author, argues that your goal isn’t to get past the gatekeeper, but work with that person and try to develop a relationship. Ms. Wagner feels that you should offer the gatekeeper a value proposition or elevator pitch, e.g., that you are offering a product or service that solves a particular problem the company has. While some sales experts argue that you shouldn’t leave a message with the gatekeeper, Ms. Wagner takes the opposite position. By working closely with the gatekeeper and keeping that person in the loop, Ms. Wagner believes that you will have a better chance of reaching the decision-maker.

Here is her video below –

Are you a Hunter or Farmer when it comes to selling?

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Is it a good idea to divide up your sales team by hunters and farmers?

First, some definitions.

The hunter in salesA hunter is someone who strictly prospects for new business. He usually makes a ton of warm or cold calls. However, in some cases, he may be responding to inbound inquiries from e-mail, trade shows or other sources.

A farmer is someone who manages existing accounts. His job is to handle all billing and shipping inquiries, but more importantly, he is responsible for growing the accounts by cross-selling or up-selling.

The farmer in salesI have worked as both the hunter and farmer simultaneously, i.e., I was responsible for managing x-number of accounts, but I was also expected to prospect for new business. I would normally set time aside each day and just prospect. Based on studies that I’ve read, the best time to prospect is between 8:00 to 10:00 a.m., and again from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. From 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. are normally not considered good times because people are out to lunch.

But is it a good idea to divide up the hunter and farmer roles? It really depends on your industry, the type of products and services you are selling, and how many accounts your company has. If you are working for a start-up or small company, you may end up wearing both the hunter and farmer hat – and other hats as well! But as a company begins to grow and add more accounts, those roles may be separated.

As a general rule, the more complex or longer the sales cycle, the better you should allow only hunters to focus on them. The last thing you want to do is have hunters distracted managing existing accounts while trying to close new business. After all, if you are working for months closing $50K orders, do you really want to deal with existing accounts that may only generate an additional $1,000 or so a year?  On the other hand, it may not be a bad idea to allow hunters to manage only large accounts, and handoff smaller accounts to farmers to manage.

By allowing hunters to manage some large accounts this may introduce a little variety in their jobs. After all, hunting can be stressful because you are constantly dealing with rejections and meeting quota. Allowing hunters to deal with some friendly existing customers may ease the stress level a bit.

The biggest challenge for the farmers is to make sure they don’t become glorified customer service reps. They sometimes have to be pushed to upgrade customers. Yes, this does take time. After all, you are building up relationships. You are digging deeper to learn more about the accounts, and finding other decisions makers to contact. You have to keep up with the industry news and be on the alert of any changes at your accounts. You also have to keep a close eye on your competitors to ensure they don’t steal your customers.

The biggest risk of hunters transferring over their closed accounts to farmers is ensuring that customer relationships will not be impaired. I’ve worked at some companies where customers insisted on only working with the hunter because they developed a good relationship. Despite the hunter reassuring the customers that the farmer will take good care of him, the customer still insisted on working with the hunter. In those rare cases, the hunter kept the customer to ensure peace.

When determining the hunter and farmer role, consider what the salesperson prefers doing. Some people thrive on the challenge of making sales calls and closing business, but they get bored easily managing accounts. They either don’t have the patience or desire to slowly grow accounts over a period of time. Those are your hunters.

The farmers, on the other hand, like the challenge of growing existing accounts. They like digging deep into accounts, learning more about their needs and problems, and uncovering new decision-makers.

And there are some who can do both.

 Hunter, Farmer or both. You decide what’s best for your company.

Let me “Think it Over” Objection, Part 3

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overcoming the "I need to think it over" objectionI hope you enjoyed the videos from parts 1 and 2 of this post.

So how do we overcome the “I need to think it over” objection?

1). Be prepared. Along with the price objection, the “I need to think it over” ranks among the two or three common objections that you will hear. You need to be prepared to handle this properly. Don’t be defensive. Don’t argue.

2). Ask questions. You need to uncover the real concerns. I agree with Annette Lackovic that 99% of the time the real objection is price. But sometimes prospects are either too polite or embarrass to tell you this, so they give you a smokescreen excuse in hopes that you will just go away.

3). Empathize. I agree with Alan Gordon that you shouldn’t use gimmicks or do a close. Forget the hard sell tactics. Most prospects are too sophisticated for that to work these days. You have to be more subtle in your approach. How? By following Mr. Gordon’s approach of agreeing with the prospect, summarizing what he said, and asking questions. Put yourself in the place of the prospect. This could be a major buying decision for him. After all, it’s only human nature that we hold onto our money.

The “I need to think it over” objection is really like most objections we all encounter. By putting ourselves in the prospect’s shoes, and asking the right questions, we can uncover the real concerns and hopefully close the sale.

 

Let me “Think it Over” Objection, Part 2

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In part 1 of this post, I shared two videos from sales experts on how they would handle the classic “I have to think it over” objection. Below Annette Lackovic, an Australian sales trainer suggested that you relax when this objection comes, and ask prospects questions to uncover their real concerns.

Here is her video below –

Let me “Think it Over” Objection, Part 1

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Let me “think it over” objection ranks as one of the most common objections you will hear along with the price objection.

But do prospects really need to “think it over”? No. It’s really a stall on their part because they are still interested in your product or service, but they have some concerns. Your job is to uncover those concerns, reassure the prospect that he is making the right decision, and move forward with the close.

But how do you do this? In the next few videos, let’s see what the sales experts have to say about this, and what they would do.

Dan Boe from The Selling Shop suggests taking an assertive approach by asking the prospect to sign a contract, but with a promise to tear up the agreement in a few days if the prospect does not want to move forward. His argument is by taking this approach, the prospect is either serious about moving forward, or it will allow you to uncover the real truth behind the prospect’s concerns.

Here is his video –

Alan Gordon, the author of The Big Book of Sales, argues that this objection is really a buying signal and that you need to agree with the prospect, paraphrase what he said, and then ask questions to uncover the prospect’s real concerns. He makes the case to avoid using gimmicks and just get to the heart of the issue.

Here is his video –