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Joanne S. Black

No More Cold Calling® Point of View Articles

Joanne S. Black, No More Cold Calling® | www.nomorecoldcalling.com Point of View Articles |

Table of Contents There’s No Such Thing as a Warm Call............................................................................... 3

For Expert Salespeople, It’s Really Not Tough Out There ..................................................5

Why Is Everyone Buying Lists?............................................................................................7

Why Salespeople Are Leaving ............................................................................................. 9

The Power of Referrals ....................................................................................................... 11

We All Need a Business Buddy ..........................................................................................13

Your Clients Are Waiting....................................................................................................16

Catch the Next Business Wave ...........................................................................................18

How to Say Goodbye! .........................................................................................................21

Leave PowerPoint Behind and Make the Person-to-Person Sale .................................... 23

Weaving Your Own Network............................................................................................. 25

Toss the Technology—Relationships Still Rule ................................................................ 28

We Never Learned How to Sell in School ..........................................................................31

60 Second Success Tips - "What are the shared qualities of top sellers?"................................................................. 34


There’s No Such Thing as a Warm Call by Joanne S. Black

A sales call is either cold or hot. Fortunately, there is a way to make nothing but hot calls, with a fantastic rate of return. The secret is referrals. A cold call is one that’s made to someone who doesn’t know you and is not expecting your call. Salespeople can delude themselves into thinking they are making "warm calls" when in fact they’re actually making cold calls. Consider the following situations:

• You call someone because you got the name came from a colleague or friend. Cold!

• You call someone and then follow up with a letter. Cold!

• The person’s name came from a specific list. Still cold! These are all cold calls — the person doesn’t know you and is not expecting your call. Even though you think you've been able to avoid sounding like a telemarketer, this type of call is still cold. And cold calling is a numbers game. If we make 100 calls, we’ll talk to about 20 people, schedule 10 appointments, and if we’re lucky, close one new deal. That’s a 1 percent return on our time. Not only does cold calling have a low percentage return, those who do it and those who receive them rarely have a positive attitude about cold calls. Recent research by Huthwaite® surveyed both sellers and buyers about their attitudes on prospecting: Sellers

• 63 % of salespeople say cold calling is what they most dislike about their jobs

• 88 % of salespeople work for companies that consider prospecting important

Buyers • 91% of buyers never respond to an unsolicited inquiry

• 71% of buyers find cold calls annoying

• 88% of buyers will have nothing to do with cold callers

• 94% of buyers couldn’t remember a single prospector or message they had received during the last two years

Obviously cold calls aren’t working. In fact, why would you settle for the illusion of a "warm call" when you can make genuine hot calls? A call is hot when there’s an introduction. The person knows who the caller is and is expecting the call. This is the kind of call that shortens the sales cycle, increases a salesperson’s credibility, results in qualified prospects, and means a new client more than 50 percent of the time! Why would you waste your time doing anything else?


Here’s how to get HOT calls:

1. Make a list of everyone you know — current clients, past clients, peers, neighbors, service providers, friends, past co-workers, volunteer groups, etc. You should have at least 100 names. Prioritize the list so that the people that you know the best are at the top.

2. Set a goal and decide how many people you will contact each week. Arrange in-person meetings if at all possible.

3. Tell your referral sources that you are building your business through referrals and would like their help. Describe your ideal client and ask for one or two people who meet your description.

4. When your referral source makes a suggestion, find out as much as you can about the person and his company.

5. Then ask your referral source to make the introduction. The introduction could be by phone, in person, or by e-mail.

Start thinking about how you spend your time and the type of payoff you want. Get HOT! Get that introduction!

Joanne Black is America’s leading authority on referral selling, a professional speaker and author of No More Cold Calling™: The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust (Warner Business Books). For more information, visit www.NoMoreColdCalling.com or 415-461-8763.


For Expert Salespeople, It’s Really Not Tough Out There by Joanne S. Black

A stagnant economy has left many business people complaining that it’s more difficult than ever to sign up new clients – or even to get potential clients to take the time to talk to them. But the reality is this: The economy is rebounding and now is the time to gear up your sales force. Real salesmanship is coming back as the exciting field it was before economy’s downturn. The Dow’s crash in September 2001 caught most people unprepared and put an abrupt halt to the spending party that had been raging just months before. The demand market had been so strong for so long that salespeople had forgotten how to sell. They had turned into order takers. But when the Dow dropped to under 9,000, many thought the downturn would be short-lived. It wasn’t. Companies folded. Others stayed afloat by downsizing. The problem was that companies didn’t retool quickly enough. They needed to rethink their strategy and demonstrate how they could contribute to the results their clients had to achieve. Many organizations needed to ensure that their workers had the selling skills to handle the challenges from a tougher business environment. We’ve had three years to change. The Dow is back over 10,000. Economic indicators are good. It’s time to unleash that go-get-’em energy that salespeople live for. Let’s get back to the excitement that comes with getting the appointment, having a connected business conversation, and closing deals. The time is now ripe to accelerate your business growth. There are specific activities that will jumpstart your sales.

• Position yourself as the expert in your field. Companies are spending money carefully. Be clear and compelling about what you do and make it easier for your clients to buy from you.

• Create value for your clients. Learn about the marketplace and your client’s competition. Understand the trends that are impacting your client’s industry.

• Build strategic alliances by researching which companies offer complementary services in the same market. Consider combining your offering with something else your client needs.

• Speak in terms of what results your client will achieve by working with you. Clarify how your product or service can help your client succeed by increasing revenue, lowering costs, or increasing profitability.

Salespeople who are skilled at having a business conversation will ask good questions and provide a solution that will not only help the client’s business, but will far exceed their


expectations. Closing is never the issue. If there’s a problem closing, it is always related to a misunderstanding much earlier in the sales process. Closing should be like walking — it should be the logical next step — like putting one foot in front of the other. It is our job as salespeople to create the opportunity — not wait for it. Let’s reconnect with that super salesperson within us and contact the people we want to meet and who want to meet with us. Let’s put the slow economy behind us and start making those great deals!



Why Is Everyone Buying Lists? by Joanne S. Black

Companies that sell lists of sales leads promise that if you use their list, you’ll get instant access to the right person in your target company. With our list, these companies imply, you’ll learn more about your prospects before you pick up the phone. But, in fact, lists are not leads. Lists are lists. They may be a way for salespeople to find out who’s who in a company and possibly even pinpoint the exact person they are looking for. But they don’t guarantee sales. Successful salespeople are “make-it-happen” people, and they know that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Think about it: If making sales were as easy as buying a list, wouldn’t we all be retired to an exotic island by now? Our job as salespeople is to create business opportunities, not to harbor unrealistic expectations that real leads will be handed to us from a targeted list. As the economy picks up, companies are resuming their former mass-marketing techniques. Let’s send mailings, salespeople think. Let’s entice prospects with a free offer. Let’s pick up the phone and cold call our list. But that’s all just a waste of time and money. Another fallacy is the power of the free offer. The problem is, people who want it free want it free. They won’t actually buy anything. Carefully consider what you are offering and to whom before you decide to give anything away. If you want to send a mailing… go ahead. But think about how many unsolicited mailings sent to you that you actually open. In fact, only 38 percent of adults read direct mail based on their current needs, while only 10 percent of adults read all direct mail. I’m not against direct mail. I’m against people acting under the delusion that direct mail is a way to actively generate new business. It doesn’t. It might contribute to your credibility and your branding, but that’s it. Direct mail approaches are “cold.” I define “cold” as any marketing approach in which the recipient does not know you and is not expecting to hear from you And cold calling – calling someone who doesn’t know you and is not expecting your call – just doesn’t work. Sure, there will be people who will tell you they’re good at it and get results. They might – if they’re lucky – end up with a new client about 1 percent of the time. Make 100 calls, talk to 20 prospects, set 5 to 10 appointments, and close one deal. And the actual results can be even more discouraging. Even though the National Do Not Call Registry applies only to business - to – consumer calls, everyone has become wary of cold callers. To date, consumers have registered more than 58 million phone numbers on the registry, and organizations can be fined up to $11,000 for each infraction.


Now think about the times you have received a qualified referral. That’s a person who you want to talk to and who wants to talk to you. What percent of the time did you get a new client? If you’re like most people, your answer will be a minimum 50 percent of the time, and more likely 80 to 90 percent of the time. Finding ways to make referrals happen consistently will dramatically boost your sales. Here are five tips for generating the kind of referrals you want:

1. Define your niche and position yourself as the expert. Buyers will spend money on people with the expertise they need. Be specific.

2. Network like crazy! Your goal should be to attend at least one event per week where you’ll have an opportunity to meet potential clients. Let them know what you do and describe your ideal client.

3. Translate what you offer into the business results your client will achieve. Tell them how they’ll specifically benefit from being your customer.

4. Think of everyone you know as a potential referral source. It’s not about who they are, it’s about who they know. And you have no idea who they know until you ask.

5. Always get an introduction. When you are introduced to a person you want to meet and who wants to meet you, your call will now be HOT!



Why Salespeople Are Leaving by Joanne S. Black

Endless cold calling leads to frustrated salespeople, reduced profits, and wasted time. Then why do we drain the energy and enthusiasm of our new employees by forcing them to focus on such an outdated sales technique? There is a better way. Knowing who to contact and how to contact them is an invaluable skill for all new salespeople to learn. We hire salespeople, indoctrinate them with product knowledge, show them how to fill out timesheets, medical forms, benefit forms; give them a smattering of our business culture and the way we sell; then give them a phone, a list, and a desk and expect them to figure out how to build their territory fast enough and well enough so that they can make the kind of money that we promised them. They end up pounding the pavement or cold calling from their phone, and then we wonder why they can’t bring in the business after all the training and money we spent on them. Frustrated, most of them leave, and we start the process again. The actual cost of hiring and training a new employee is one and a half times their future yearly salary, plus benefits. There are other costs to consider when a salesperson leaves and must be replaced. These include loss of productivity once the salesperson has decided to leave, the cost of recruiting, the possible loss of our competitive insights if they go to our competition, the loss of productivity once the new person comes on board, and loss of sales opportunities and clients while the territory goes uncovered. When I talk to new salespeople and ask them how they’re building their business, most say that they are cold calling. Why? “My boss says I have to” is the frequent reply. Ask any of these new salespeople if successful individuals in their organizations are cold calling, and the emphatic answer is, “No!” The veterans build their business because of the relationships they’ve established. They’re actively working their referral network, yet they expect the new folks to do what they had to do when they started — which is cold call. Ask salespeople if they like to cold call. I’ve taken an informal survey over the last seven years. The answer is a resounding "No!" 98 percent of the time. And now with the National Do Not Call Registry in place, the public is even more suspect of cold calling. Unfortunately, we tend to correlate activity with productivity. The more calls we make, the more clients we will get. But what’s the return if a salesperson makes 100 calls and only convinces five people to talk to him? Data I’ve collected from people who engage in cold calling shows that a real estate agent can make more than 300 calls to get one new client and a stockbroker makes more than 200 dials to reach 30 people, to get 5 appointments, to get one new client — if he’s lucky. These aren’t great odds.


Instead, we should focus on the right kind of activity: building business through referrals. Everyone loves to receive referrals because they:

• Shorten the time it takes to close the sale

• Reduce or eliminate the competition

• Increase your credibility

• Promote a business discussion

• Reduce or eliminate price objections Equip new salespeople with the skills to build their client base through referrals. Here’s how to get started:

1. Define and communicate your organization’s sales strategy — industry trends, the marketplace, the competition, and your company’s demonstrable superiority.

2. Outline your sales process and align each step with essential company resources, opportunities for client interaction, and referral activities.

3. Clarify roles and responsibilities. Everyone in the company is part of the sales team — whether they have “sales” in their title or not.

4. Determine metrics for success. Decide how salespeople will be measured on sales activities as well as revenue and profit targets.

5. Create individual referral-selling plans so that each person has accountability for building a referral business.

6. Ensure that people know how to ask for referrals so that they get in front of the clients they want to meet and who want to meet them.

7. Hold managers accountable for reinforcing sales behavior and ensuring a viable referral-selling process.

If we give salespeople the tools and skills they need and reward and recognize results, just watch how much business we close! And how many salespeople we keep for the long run.



The Power of Referrals By Joanne S. Black

Why is it that every salesperson will tell you that referrals are the best way to generate new business, and yet so few people run a 100 percent referral-based business? This puzzled me, so when I started my company more than nine years ago, I conducted an informal poll of salespeople across many industries. I asked them the rather obvious question: Why are referrals so great? To the person, they told me that a referred client is pre-sold, the referred salesperson has credibility and trustworthiness, the competition decreases or disappears, and that they end up with a new client a minimum of 50 percent—but more likely between 75 and 95 percent—of the time. Oh, and not only are referral customers more profitable, but they also will be the first to give a referral to others. And it didn’t matter whether the salespeople I asked were new to their field or had been selling for twenty or thirty years. Their answers were practically the same: They agreed that referral business was the most effective and highly leveraged business development strategy. Nothing else could come close. Then I asked the next logical question: Do you have an intentional strategy to build your business through referrals? Meaning do you have a plan, goals, and a way to track and measure your results? Silence. This was a huge gap for me. On one hand, referral business is unsurpassed; and on the other, people are passive about developing their referrals. It’s common sense, but not common practice. I eventually discovered that there are four reasons why companies aren’t using the most powerful sales strategy they could ever have:

1. It feels uncomfortable. When we ask for a referral, it feels as if we’re asking someone to help us, and it’s not easy asking for help. If we have to ask, maybe it means our business isn’t doing very well. It feels as if we’re intruding on a relationship, and we’re asking a busy person to do more. And the biggest fear of all is that she might say no. Unlike other business development strategies, asking for referrals is very, very personal.

2. It’s a skill. People don’t know how to ask in a way that will get them demonstrable results. They’ve never learned a reliable process. Typically, a salesperson's idea of asking for a referral is to say: “By the way, if you know anyone who could benefit from my services, please pass my name along.” The only thing that achieves is we can check "Ask for a referral" off our list. It actually gets us nowhere.

3. There haven’t been metrics. Referral selling appears as something nice to do, but historically, there haven’t been any hard numbers on the success rate of referral business. There are metrics for cold calling, direct mail, advertising, but few widely known for referrals. What the typical metrics for referrals should be are the number of people asked, the number of referral meetings held, the number of new customers, the amount of increased business with existing customers, and overall increases in revenue and profitability.


4. It hasn’t been part of our sales process. Referrals need to be the way we work every single day. Asking for referrals must be integrated into all the work we do, rather than an afterthought. It is a proactive strategy and not something we leave to “word of mouth.” Word of mouth is passive, waiting for the phone to ring; referral selling is active and results-oriented.

I have also collected comments such as “I forget” or “It’s not the right time.” These are typical red flags that indicate the downward spiral of never asking. We can easily “forget,” and justify that it’s never the right time. These comments reflect our discomfort and reluctance to ask. The easy part of shifting to referral selling is learning the skill, establishing metrics, and integrating referral selling into our sales process and our goals. The biggest roadblock to referral selling is our fear of asking. One way of getting past the fear is to think about a time when someone you knew and trusted asked you for a referral. It could have been to a service provider, such as an accountant, attorney, mechanic, hairdresser, or day care provider. Were you delighted to give a referral? Of course you were. Many of us love to give referrals even when we’re not asked. Now translate that referral process into the business world. Think about all of the times that you’ve given referrals to business associates. You are the first to tell others about the best resource that you found, or a particularly brilliant article you’ve read, or an interesting solution to a business problem. You give referrals all the time. So, why wouldn’t others do the same for you? Of course the answer is: They will. All you have to do is ask. Remember, I said someone you knew and trusted asked you for a referral. You wouldn’t ask someone you just met for two minutes at a networking event for a referral. Rather, you will ask a person you know and like–someone you connect with immediately. At the end of the day, you’re only going to do business with people you like, and you’re only going to refer people you like. The Power of Referrals is endless. If you want to run a referral-based business, begin by examining your strategy and your process.

• Do your salespeople know the importance of referrals? • Where in your sales process should they ask for referrals? • What metrics can you put in place to reinforce referrals? • How will you recognize people for their success?

It’s now time to move referral selling from common sense to common practice. Determine how the four excuses for not asking for referrals play out in your company. Talk to your salespeople and build a plan to shift the way you work. Your sales life will never be the same again.



We All Need a Business Buddy by Joanne S. Black

You’ve heard it over and over—you need a strategy for your business. You not only need a business plan, but also a marketing strategy, a financial strategy, and a product strategy. It’s exhausting just thinking about all these strategies. However, the strategy that’s most frequently overlooked is a robust sales strategy, and it’s the most important strategy of all. I have asked many salespeople, sales managers, and business owners to tell me about their sales strategy. What I learned was that a sales strategy—if there was one—was buried in a cumbersome business plan. It’s amazing what happens when we have a well-developed sales strategy. We can actually spend less time and get better results. Why? Because we are absolutely clear on those activities that will enable us to reach our strategic goals. Everyone talks about how much there is to do and how little time they have to do it. As businesses downsized after the boom of the 90’s, everyone was doing multiple jobs. They were just trying to get the work done, and their efforts were nowhere near strategic. But now that companies are hiring again, managers are finding the time to adjust their course, and they now have the opportunity to step back and plan their sales strategy. Here are six questions managers should think about:

1. What are your revenue and profit goals?

2. What is the profile of your “Ideal Customer”—the one who will spend money and who will be profitable?

3. What is your plan to attract new business?

4. What is your plan to grow additional business from existing customers?

5. What is your sales model—do you have employees, contractors, distributors, or alliances?

6. What metrics will you put in place to monitor progress and make mid-course corrections? (There will always be mid-course corrections, and the way you handle these will determine your eventual success.)

The overarching question you need to answer is “How will I know when I’m successful?” And with a well-defined plan, you are clear about the actions you need to take to get there. You can eliminate superfluous activities and focus on those that will get you to your goal. When the phone rings, you’ll make clear decisions about the type of business you decide to accept; you’ll be crystal clear about the kind of business you proactively attract, the networking activities, speaking engagements, and trade shows you want to do, and the best advertising approaches for your business. Doesn’t this sound great? You bet! But you can’t implement a new strategy by yourself. In addition to a sales strategy, you need a winning partner. Look at successful salespeople and business owners you know—it doesn’t matter what industry: hi-tech, financial services, consulting, transportation, energy, or accounting. What do they all have in common? They


use every possible available resource to help them sustain their success. In times when resources are scarce, the high achievers have no problem getting people to work on their team. In fact, they usually have people lined up behind them. You will need someone to give you advice, keep you on track, ask you tough questions, and come up with fresh ideas. You’ll need help and support to get to the point where you’ll blow your old numbers away. You will need a “Business Buddy”: an individual, preferably a peer, whom you can talk to as often as necessary. Make sure it’s someone you respect, and who respects you. It is best if this person is not in the same business you are. You can trade war stories, and your differences will give each of you a fresh perspective. It doesn’t matter where your buddy is geographically, because modern technology eliminates distance. The phone line makes distances disappear. Your meetings can be in-person or on the phone. Plan to spend about 30 minutes each week talking with your buddy and set a specific date and time to talk. Each person should discuss his or her objectives for the meeting. Decide on ground rules—confidentiality of information and how feedback should be given and received. You need to be willing to accept unbiased feedback. Tell the other person your business challenges, provide feedback, brainstorm strategic options, and agree and commit to action steps for the coming week. I was fortunate for a long time to have my daughter working with me. She was my business buddy. Anytime we would consider spending money on the Web, on advertising, on support materials, or anytime I was asked to speak, she would say, “Mom, does this get you to your goal?” This was a wonderful reality check. We all need this kind of accountability. Another way that companies are getting good advice is by creating advisory boards. Typically, these people meet quarterly and review the sales strategy of the organization. They do not have any financial involvement in the business, and they come from many walks of life. The idea is to have a variety of backgrounds and opinions—to generate new ideas and to pilot new concepts. You may also get advice from sources you never expected. I read an article in Fortune Magazine (May 2005) that quoted Anne Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox on the best advice she ever got. It was from a customer who attended a breakfast meeting she conducted: “When everything gets really complicated and you feel overwhelmed, think about it this way: You gotta do three things. First, get the cow out of the ditch. Second, find out how the cow got into the ditch. Third, make sure you do whatever it takes so the cow doesn’t go into the ditch again,” Mulcahy quoted this customer.

The overarching

question you need

to answer is “How

will I know when

I’m successful?”

And with a well-

defined plan, you

are clear about the

actions you need to

take to get there.


The pragmatic translation of this homespun advice: “The first thing is survival. The second thing is, figure out what happened. Learn from those lessons and make sure you’ve put a plan in place to recognize the signs, and never get there again.” Wise advise, indeed. Find a business buddy now! Maybe he or she can help you avoid getting the cow in the ditch. But if that happens, you’ll know how to get out.



Your Clients Are Waiting by Joanne S. Black

After years of working with the same insurance broker, my husband and I were getting ready for a change. The original owner of the brokerage firm was our neighbor and had taken the time to educate us about insurance and to make some valued suggestions. But after he retired, the company went through several acquisitions. We realized that we had never heard from our new agent—except to get notices in the mail that our premiums had increased. On the few occasions that we’ve called her, she has taken days to call us back—if at all. She would answer our questions, but she wasn’t proactive in reviewing our policies or seeing if our circumstances had changed so she could make recommendations based on our needs. So we decided it was time to get another opinion. One of my clients is a manager with a large insurance company, and I asked him for a referral to one of his agents. He thought about my request for a few minutes, and then he referred me to one of his agents in an office only five minutes from my house. My client told me that he was referring John not only because he was nearby, and not only because he was one of their top salespeople, but because he did business the right way and knew how to take care of his customers. Our meeting with John was scheduled at 5 p.m. I thought we would be with him for one hour at the most. We ended up leaving at 6:30—and only because we had a dinner engagement. John reviewed our current policies and basically told us we had a good deal. For several of the policies, his company couldn’t match the rates or the coverage. However, he outlined six items that we could add to our policies that wouldn’t cost us much money, but were essential for our protection. John’s company already had our auto insurance, and although we really wanted to give him more business, we probably will stay with our existing policy. But even though we won’t give John more of our business, you can be certain that my husband and I (who both have a bunch of his cards) will be proactively looking for opportunities to refer him. In addition, we are now considering jumping ship to an agent close to us who represents our current insurance company. You bet we will interview him first and find out how he stays in touch with his clients. Now, you could say that John spent a lot of time with us because his boss referred us. That could be true, but it doesn’t matter. We left the meeting well educated and armed with important information to add to our policies. We knew that he was the kind of salesperson who would take care of his clients. How well are you taking care of your clients? How often do you keep in touch with them? What is your plan to educate them and give them updated information? I’ve seen so many salespeople whose only goal is to get the deal and make their quota. Then they’re off bringing in the next deal. Who’s doing the care and feeding of your current clients? Your current clients should love you and want to do business with you. After all, they know what you do, and they’ve gotten measurable business results from your solution. Your clients know a ton of people, and they could be your best source of referrals—but that resource is


totally under-leveraged. We tend to think that our clients will automatically refer us. In fact, they think of us when they need us, but they don’t advocate for us. Think how powerful it could be to mine this valuable resource for more business. A major brokerage firm decided to conduct a survey of their best clients. One of the questions on the survey was: “Would you be willing to refer your stock broker?” The survey came back with a whopping 84 percent “yes” response. The firm then asked their brokers this question: “What percent of the time are you asking your clients for referrals?” Ready for the answer? Only 15 percent. These numbers blew me away. Their clients were absolutely willing to refer them, but the brokers were not asking. You can easily see what a fabulous opportunity had been overlooked. Don’t overlook your current clients. Don’t expect that they will refer you on their own. They have their own business to run, and you are not necessarily top of mind for them. Go back to them often to ensure that your solution for them is still working. Find out what more you can do for them. Gather successes and uncover opportunities to do better. Make them your champions. Then ask them to refer you. Here’s how to get started. Review your database and gather information about your current clients. Find out:

• What percent of your current clients were referred?

• How profitable are your current clients?

• Have they bought additional products from you?

• How often have you contacted them?

• How many have referred you to other clients? Put a plan in place to check in with your clients and find out what they need. Make a note about why they like working with you. Ask for ways to improve. Tell them you build your business through referrals and ask them to refer you. Your current clients are going to be your best source of referrals. They're just waiting for you to ask.



Catch the Next Business Wave by Joanne S. Black

I grew up in Philadelphia and spent many of my childhood summers at the Jersey Shore. My sister and I never tired of the ocean and the sand—filling our buckets with sand and then pouring it out, digging holes in the sand so deep that our parents said we were digging to China, tentatively wiggling our toes in the cold water, and when we got older, venturing into the ocean to catch the next wave to ride. The ocean was scary for some of us, and we would jump over the waves. Others would dive under them. But the really cool thing was to watch the kids who caught a wave at just the right time and rode to shore. Their timing was perfect. Our adult world is really not that different. As smart business people, we’re always trying to anticipate what the next wave will be so that we don’t miss out. We put lots of ideas in our buckets and end up tossing most of them out. And sometimes we dig a hole so deep that we never get out. None of us can foresee the future. We can help ourselves get ready for the next wave by making sure we have the right equipment and skills and by being willing to take calculated risks, much like those children did when they rode the waves into shore. According to Dan Barnett, COO at TEC International, small and mid-sized businesses are expecting slower growth during 2005. “It is slower and more sustainable, but with plenty of room for increases in both revenue and profits,” What does this mean for the next business wave? “We’re looking at organic business growth—growing with the economy and providing more products and services to our existing customers. The first place that companies will see growth is in sales. Managers and CEOs must have a new and enhanced role in their company’s sales effort.” Executives must take an active role in sales if they want to outpace their competition and grow faster than the economy. On a scale of 1-10, how effective are you and your manager in setting clear goals, coaching, recognizing success, and making sales calls together? Are you leveraging your contacts, providing focus, and setting clear priorities? I’m not an economist, but I know that there are some specific things that we can all do to get ahead of the wave and avoid being thrown under it. Experts agree that our business cycles are fluctuating—sometimes we have big waves, while sometimes the sea is calm. We live in a time of dramatic change and turbulence, and we need to take the following actions to both grow and keep our business steady:

• Know your operating “break even” point. Keep your operating expenses low. Now is not the time to staff up without considering the contribution new employees will make to your business. Many companies are doing just as much with their reduced head count as they were doing in the height of the 1990s boom.


• Be quick to change. You need to be agile; don’t take weeks to make a decision as you’ll never have all of the facts. Get the critical information you need, act now, and move on.

• Consider aligning your business with other complementary businesses. You can create alliances that have the potential to dramatically increase your sales or your market share. You may create an alliance for a specific product, or the alliance could be more strategic—to get a foothold in markets you want to enter. Be sure to do your research and confirm that the goals and the work ethic of both parties are the same.

• Make tough decisions—don’t put them off. If a strategy isn’t working for you, change your perspective. If employees aren’t working out, they won’t get better.

• Focus on your existing customers—find out what they need and surpass their expectations. Don’t forget your loyal customer base. They are your best source of advice, and are also the best source of new business.

• Go for it! Try a new approach, a new market, a new product. Don’t be afraid to take some risks.

Once you use the strategies above to make changes within your operation, you may face major resistance from your sales force, customers, and employees. The process of going from where you are to where you will be is not a straight line. There is usually a dip in productivity after change is announced and then a gradual increase. So, what do you do? Think ahead and re-structure your marketing, your communications strategies, and anticipate the impact on your core business. To catch the wave, make change quickly and see how quickly you are re-energized. Here are some tips for catching the wave and planning your future:

1. Review your sales strategy for the next 18 months—no longer than that. Are your distribution channels performing? What are your customers saying about your products? What are your salespeople telling you? They are your ear to the ground.

2. Analyze your customer base—which customers have delivered the most revenue and profit? Which have purchased the most products from you? Do your customers congregate in certain industries?

3. Build your marketing plan to support your new or revised strategy. Ensure that your communication with your employees, your customers, and the press is congruent.

4. Take a look at your employees—what is their tenure? Have people been churning through your organization? Have people jumped ship to your competitor? If so, it is time to review your employee development and compensation plans. Ensure that your employees are challenged, are encouraged to innovate, and are recognized and rewarded—not only for their success—but for trying something new.

5. Tighten your value proposition—are your salespeople demonstrating ways that your company can contribute to the business results of your clients? Are they clearly delivering your message in terms of Return on Investment?

6. Be innovative—think of new applications for your product or service.


Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, advises us to think like an athlete—if you reach a plateau, it’s time to re-think. He encourages us to dream big, but stay small. We all have the potential to be whatever we want, but no one likes to feel anonymous. So, treat every customer with respect and appreciation. When your wave comes to shore, you and your people will be fired up and ready to go.



How to Say Goodbye! by Joanne S. Black

When it comes to difficult customers, you know the warning signs—they nickel-and-dime you on price, don’t return phone calls, tell you they’re the decision makers when they’re not, threaten you with your competitors, make unreasonable demands, and expect fast, complete, and reliable delivery of your service. I call those customers PITAs: “pain in the ass” customers. PITA customers are never happy. They’re emotionally draining and they use up your valuable resources. Collect too many PITA customers and watch your profits dwindle—not a compelling scenario. Yet companies continue to accept this bad business, all the while thinking it’s better than no business. But is it? When organizations take bad business, they are paying a hidden opportunity cost—the opportunity lost to use their resources to go after the phenomenal clients they want and need to make money! Servicing a PITA customer takes away time we could use providing something extra for our truly great customers. How is it we end up with a few customers that drive us crazy when we can see the warning signs a mile away? Sometimes it’s because we have a quota to meet, or our company insists we do a deal, or we think that we can turn a bad situation into a good one. We’re dreaming. Bad business is bad business. Period. We need to attract clients who are the opposite of the PITA—clients who value what we have to offer, who communicate well, are forward-thinking, reasonable, have a good sense of humor, and will give the time, money, and resources to make any project successful. Plenty of these people exist. Since we will get what we ask for, we need to be better at asking for good clients. Salespeople frequently say that they will sell to “anyone who fogs a mirror.” Avoid that kind of thinking. We shouldn’t target just “anyone.” “Anyone” all too frequently turns out to be a PITA customer, the one who plays the nickel-and-dime game. You need to create a profile of your “ideal customer” so you can recognize perfect opportunities when they arise. These ideal customers are those you want to serve and the ones you will bend head over heels for. You will also use this profile when you are asking people to refer you. Think of yourself as an artist—the more color and lines you put in your description, the easier it will be for others to recognize the picture of your ideal customer and refer them to you. For a lot of salespeople, being too specific in describing their ideal customer may seem like they might be leaving good business on the table. We often think that if we don’t mention everything we do we'll miss a sale. This is exactly the opposite of what happens. The more


specific you are, the easier it will be for someone to refer you. A long list of the things you do blurs your image. For someone to be able to refer you, they need a clear picture of you. Create a description using the following categories:

Industry: What industry do you want your clients to come from; where does your company have a track record?

Geography: Where would these customers be based—regions of the United States, North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa?

Size Company: How large would the company you would most like to work with be and how do you measure its size (i.e.: number of employees, revenue, age, geographical coverage)?

Business Unit or Function: What group of people within the company are your ideal contacts—CEOs, CIOs, COOs, HR employess, salesmen, marketing people?

Type of Person: What are the personality traits (sense of humor, responsible, dedicated, integrity) of your “ideal customer?”

Situation/Need: “What sort of situation is your ideal customer in that creates the need for your help? Here are some ideas: “My salespeople aren’t performing, our teams are not working together, we've just acquired another company, we have difficulty recruiting the right talent, we don’t have enough clients, our systems are at capacity, we’ll be acquiring more companies.”

And if a prospect doesn’t meet your criteria: Say NO! A PITA prospect is just the beginning of a bad relationship. The downward spiral will have begun. The cost to you will be exorbitant—your resources will be drained, you won’t make money, and you will have lost the opportunity to focus on good business. Say “No!” and a big weight will be lifted off of your shoulders. And, I’ll bet that your “ideal customer” will be right there waiting for you. It’s not about the number of proposals we write or the number of clients we have. It’s about getting and keeping the right clients—the clients who will produce the revenue and profits we want, and who will readily refer us to others just like themselves You’ll be talking to exactly the people you want to meet and who want to meet you, and you will begin to see that you can actually have fewer leads and get more business. Your biggest challenge will be following up on all your great leads. Won’t that be terrific?



Leave PowerPoint Behind and Make the Person-to-Person Sale by Joanne S. Black

Death by PowerPoint: We’ve all been there. The lights in the room are dimmed, everyone is looking at a screen and listening to a product manager, salesperson, or executive read what is on each and every slide. You look at your watch and can’t wait to leave the room. New, fancy technology is alluring. It’s easy to get sucked into the PowerPoint universe. But you need to connect person-to-person first if you ever intend to make a sale. The power of connections is infinite—and I’m not talking about computers. There’s a saying among salespeople that customers buy with emotion and justify with fact. If our customers don’t like us or don’t feel comfortable with us, they won’t buy from us. You can wow your clients with technology know-how now and try to win them over later, once they find out you’re honest and reliable. But the reality is, you need people to start liking you within the first few seconds of your relationship. That's really all you have to get off on the right foot. And fancy gizmos won’t make that happen. But a trusted referral and a personal connection will. Several years ago, Southwest Airlines aired a commercial, which was a powerful reflection on the importance of personal connections in our technology intense world. It’s message:

• You can’t fax a handshake.

• You can’t pat a voicemail on the back.

• You can’t tickle a voicemail.

• You can’t have lunch with an e-mail.

• You can’t fax a pillow fight.

• You can’t slow dance online.

• You can’t have coffee with a website.

• You can’t smell homemade bread on your pager.

• You can’t e-mail a kiss. According to recent research at both Harvard and Stanford universities, the No #1 skill for success in the 21st century is the ability to talk to other people. If we don’t “connect” with others, there is really no next step. And when we are referred, we have an immediate connection. We talk about the person who referred us and discard those first uncomfortable and awkward steps of the sales meeting—explaining who we are and what we do. We also discard the question we always wrestle with: “How am I going to begin the conversation?” In terms of making a personal connection, I don’t believe in using tired sales techniques like walking into someone’s office and commenting on the photographs and awards displayed on


the walls. This is outdated and transparently insincere. There is significant research about why clients make buying decisions. Bottom line: because they like and trust the salesperson and his organization. Clients make multi-million dollar decisions because they like us. Here are some ways to connect with your clients:

• Smile! A smile is the greatest connector of all. When you smile, people automatically smile back.

• Salespeople are often the first to know what's new. Demonstrate your knowledge of your client's business and the problems they are facing. Many people are buried in their work inside their companies. They want to know what's going on "out there." They expect you to know, so be sure to have relevant answers.

• Ask insightful questions and listen carefully to the responses. What you hear may be different than what you expect. You want to entertain different perspectives — read between the lines and understand the shades of gray as well as noting the black and white.

• Connect your solution to the business results your client can expect. Only discuss the key points that are pertinent to this particular customer.

Do not discuss the “features” of your product. Do not discuss “benefits” of your product. Do not talk about the weather. The only thing your client is interested in hearing are the ways you can contribute to his objectives. What can you do to help him implement his business strategy? You can open your computer and demonstrate your bells and whistles and PowerPoint later—if the client is even interested. Connect with people, and you will have the business. If you connect with the business problem only and don’t take the time to relate one-on-one with your client … you won’t have the client and you won’t have the sale. Business is serious, but people aren’t, so leave the PowerPoint behind and make the person-to-person sale.



Weaving Your Own Network by Joanne S. Black

Are you shy? I bet you are, because 93 percent of adults, when asked, will say that they’re shy. It’s not surprising, therefore, that most of us feel uncomfortable at networking events. “Oh my gosh,” we say, “I'll have to talk to strangers.” What did our mother tell us never to do? Talk to strangers. And this is the message that has been ingrained in us since we were small children. On top of that, we’re not sure what to say. In fact, we’d rather not be there at all. But although networking has inspired all sorts of analysis and dread, in the end, it’s really just about building relationships and being genuine. You want to be able to network to sell a product, promote your company, find a job, find new clients, learn the latest from others, or gain more visibility in the business community. Networking opportunities exist everywhere—business meetings, professional associations, alumni groups, sports groups, community groups, weddings, parties, and any place people come together. But don’t forget about your internal network. Build relationships with everyone—no matter what their title. Don’t forget the guy in the mailroom, the office assistant, or the custodian. If you’re the last person to hear that you’re about to have a new manager or that your company is being acquired, you don’t have your own office grapevine. The trick to maintaining a successful internal network is to keep in touch with individual network members: don’t call someone only when you want something. Sure it's tough to keep those connections warm, because we’re all busy. We get so involved in our jobs that we don’t make time for networking. But remember Woody Allen’s old adage: “Eighty percent of success in life is showing up.” Showing up counts. The more often you show up, the more visible you become, and the more people will get to know you and recognize you. Another way to make contacts is through networking groups, where it’s possible—and encouraged—to network like crazy. Your goal should be to attend at least one event per week where you’ll have an opportunity to meet potential clients. In fact, this is a non-negotiable part of my business development strategy. You can attend a breakfast, lunch, or evening event—or all three. I have four goals when attending an event: meet interesting people, learn something, get a new client, and have fun. If I achieve at least three of these goals—and I make a point to do so—I am thrilled!

Decide which groups you’d like to join and show up regularly. A good rule of thumb is to err on the side of joining fewer groups and attending most of the time rather than joining many groups and showing up once in awhile. You need to give people the opportunity to get to know you, like you, and trust you. And even more important is becoming active in a group. For example, when you volunteer, people learn how you work—they’ll learn that you are dependable and contribute innovative ideas—and you’ll begin to develop strong, trusting relationships.


Not sure which events to attend? Find out what meetings your clients attend and go there. Do some research on various professional associations. Check with your local Chamber of Commerce on the events they sponsor. Read your weekly business journal to find interesting opportunities. Attend an event to learn something new from an interesting speaker. The more you learn, the more valuable you are to your clients. Here are some networking tips for group meetings: Preparation

• Decide which events to attend

• Put monthly attendance on your calendar

• Set a goal for each event

• Travel solo—if you came with someone, split up—so that you can both meet new people.

• Plan your personal introduction

• Prepare insightful questions Interaction

• Don’t spend time talking to people you already know

• Look for friendly conversations

• Move graciously from group to group

• Look for a person standing alone

• Ask, "How can I help you?" Proactive Steps

• Have a system for organizing your contacts—where you met them, what you agreed to send or do, when to follow-up

• Send a note Tools for Effective Networking

• Wear your name badge on the right

• Read and use the person’s name

• Have a "ton" of business cards—keep them everywhere–in your pocket, your wallet, your briefcase, and in your car.

• Use a firm handshake A realistic goal at a networking event is to meet one or two really good people and find out about them. Don’t be the person who is the life of the party and is running around handing out business cards to as many people as he can. When Mr. Life-of-the-Party asks for your


card in return and wants you to refer him to your clients, why would you? You don’t know anything about him. This person is not genuine, and you can spot him a mile away. Above all, relax and have a good time. Your shyness won’t matter anymore, because you’ll truly be enjoying yourself.



Toss the Technology—Relationships Still Rule by Joanne S. Black

The Internet and other breakthroughs in technology have fundamentally changed the way we do business. New technology is created at warp speed, and customers expect immediate decisions. This cycle of ever-increasing speed and sophistication not only creates an intensely competitive marketplace, but places further demands on our companies to act and react quickly. Ironically, whether a business is ultrahigh tech or low tech, the most important business decisions a customer makes are still based on personal relationships. There is significant research about why customers make buying decisions. Bottom line: it’s because they like and trust the salesperson and his organization. There’s a saying among salespeople that customers buy with emotion and justify with fact. If our customers don’t like us or don’t feel comfortable with us, they won’t buy from us. You can wow your clients with technology know-how now and try to win them over later, once they find out you’re honest and reliable. But the reality is, you need people to start liking you within the first few seconds of your relationship. That's really all you have to get off on the right foot. And fancy gizmos won’t make that happen. But a trusted referral and a personal connection will. Think about it—with whom would you prefer to do business: someone you've met only via the cold call or a colleague with whom you have an established, respected relationship? If you think you can substantially build your business by cold calling, think about the value of your time. The new business climate demands you make the most of it. How many cold calls do you or your team make to close a deal? Chances are, it's not a healthy ratio. Cold calling just isn't an effective use of time. We often delude ourselves by thinking that we’re making a warm call. In reality, There’s no such thing as a warm call. A sales call is either cold or hot. A cold call is one that’s made to someone who doesn’t know you and is not expecting your call. Consider the following situations:

• You call someone because you got the name came from a colleague or friend. Cold!

• You call someone and then follow-up with a letter. Cold!

• The person’s name came from a specific list. Still cold! These are all cold calls — the person doesn’t know you and is not expecting your call. Even though you think you've been able to avoid sounding like a telemarketer, this type of call is still cold. And cold calling is a numbers game. If we make 100 calls, we’ll talk to about 20 people, schedule 10 appointments, and if we’re lucky, close one new deal. That’s a 1 percent return on our time.


Not only does cold calling have a low percentage return, those who do it and those who receive it rarely have a positive attitude about cold calls. Recent research by Huthwaite® surveyed buyers about their attitudes on prospecting:

• 91% of buyers never respond to an unsolicited inquiry

• 71% of buyers find cold calls annoying

• 88% of buyers will have nothing to do with cold callers

• 94% of buyers couldn’t remember a single prospector or message they had received during the last two years

Obviously cold calls aren’t working. In fact, why would you settle for the illusion of a "warm call" when you can make genuine hot calls? Fortunately, there is a way to make nothing but hot calls, with a fantastic rate of return. The secret is referrals. A call is hot when there’s an introduction. The person knows who the caller is and is expecting the call. This is the kind of call that shortens the sales cycle, increases a salesperson’s credibility, results in qualified prospects, and means a new client over 50 percent of the time! Why would you waste your time doing anything else? Here’s how to get HOT calls:

1. Make a list of everyone you know—current clients, past clients, peers, neighbors, service providers, friends, past co-workers, professional association members, volunteer groups, etc. You should have at least 100 names. Prioritize the list by starting with the people that you know the best. You are not asking these people for their business; you are asking them to introduce you to people they know.

2. Set a goal and decide how many people you will contact each week. Arrange in-person meetings if at all possible.

3. Tell these people (your referral sources) that you are building your business through referrals and would like their help. Describe your ideal client and ask for one or two people who meet your description.

4. When your referral source makes a suggestion, find out as much as you can about the person and his company.

5. Then ask your referral source to make the introduction. The introduction could be by phone, in person, or by e-mail.

You will now make a HOT call! Start thinking about how you spend your time and the type of payoff you want. Get HOT and get that introduction. So if referrals are such a strong and successful way to build business, why are people still cold calling? The answers run the gamut: It's not the right time to ask their colleagues; they're afraid of being told no; the approach might come across as too "salesy." Dispel these misconceptions. Dispense with your fears. Energize and strengthen your business-development process by calling on your targeted referrals. By calling on referrals, the business decision-making time collapses, your competition fades into the background, and you establish immediate credibility. The relationship closes the


deal. What's to lose except that long list of cold calls! Remember, the most energizing and exciting part of sales work is the relationships with our customers—the interaction. Salespeople like learning about a customer’s situation and matching their solutions to the needs of their customer. In an era dominated by ever-expanding technology, the creative, strategic part of our business is back. Yes, it requires brainpower. But isn’t that what we love about what we do? Indeed.



We Never Learned How to Sell in School by Joanne S. Black

At a recent meeting attended by more than 50 salespeople and sales managers, the speaker asked this question: “If your children were choosing a profession, would you recommend that they choose sales?” Not one hand was raised. There’s the problem. Selling is not viewed as a profession—it’s not something we suggest our children do. It’s definitely not what we learned in school. Recently I spoke to a group of students in an Executive MBA program. One of the school’s deans told me that he thought the curriculum was lacking. The emphasis was on theory and its application, “the what” (the facts) and not on “the how”: the personal interactions that can make or break a career . One student even told me that the real value of an MBA is the connections you make. But whether that’s true or not, what we don’t learn in school, even in business school, is how to communicate with others, how to resolve differences, how to navigate the politics of an organization, how to “sell” our ideas within our own company. School does not really prepare us for the workforce. We learn how to work—and how things work— when we actually start working. Similarly, high school does not prepare us for college. As I was about to graduate from high school, one of my teachers said: “Let me tell you the difference between high school and college. In high school the restrooms say ‘Boys and Girls’ and in college, they say ‘Men and Women.’” What a huge jump that is for all of us. And it’s another huge jump from college to the workforce and from graduate school back into the workforce. We emerge from business school book smart, but not always street smart. It then becomes our responsibility to figure things out. This lack of “the how” comes at both a huge personal cost and a cost to the companies which hire us. For most new employees, it takes at least a year to get pretty good at their jobs and up to two years to really nail it. Employees pay a huge penalty and corporations pay a huge cost. Why? Your hiring process probably looked like this: you were given a desk, a phone, some training on your products, computer training on your systems, and of course, a basic human resources indoctrination. Then you were left to figure things out. Coming to work for a new company is overwhelming—even if you stay in the same industry. You do not know the processes, who to talk to if you have questions, how to get things done, or the history of your role within the company. For example, I worked for a consulting firm for eight years and then switched to a similar firm. I thought it would be a piece of cake. It was anything but that. I went from working in a headquarters office to a field office, and I had to learn new products and the solutions that my company and I could provide. I had no history of what the company had done before. Was there help? Yes, some. But most of the people were at headquarters—on the other side of the country—and I hadn’t met them yet. When everyone is stretched, people aren’t going to give time to the new guy. I went through six agonizing months of doing my best to figure


things out. For a high achiever, this was a very difficult time. I even questioned whether or not I had made the right decision. Think about the huge cost in productivity while new employees are figuring things out. From a company perspective, there is a tremendous price to pay to mentor people until they can communicate, work as a team, and use those critical interpersonal skills that are essential for success. And as new employees without basic skills struggle to figure out how the company works and how to get things done, productivity declines. They don’t have the skills to operate in a 21st century business. And that’s why organizations do so much training. Most training emphasizes the “basics”— communication, working as a team, and managing people—basics that I believe should be taught in school. These interpersonal skills should be just as much a part of our education as are academics. And please don’t call these essential skills “soft skills.” Those two words indicate that they’re not very important. However, they are invaluable professional skills, and even more than that—they are life skills. One of my clients works with technical professionals to teach them how to be more consultative in their jobs. In fact, as schools graduate more and more technical professionals—scientists, engineers, chemists, technology experts, etc.—the problems will loom even larger. This group of highly and specifically skilled professionals wants to focus on their work. They may not know how to work in a team, to generate creative ideas, or to promote their solutions strategically. Take accountants and attorneys. They never learned to sell in school—and they don’t want to. There is a real challenge in these professional firms today. Given a choice, they will always want to be “heads down” doing the work. After all, that’s why these people became a CPA or an attorney. And one of their core values has been that if they do good work for their clients, these clients will refer others to them. In reality, their clients may refer business to them, but may not. For example, I was working with a public relations firm on their sales strategy. In this firm, as in most professional services firms, there was really no sales team. The partners were expected to bring in the business, and the rest of the office consisted of support and implementation partners. As part of my process, I interviewed people in different roles. Everyone was glad to see me, but one young woman walked in and immediately said: “I’m not a salesperson.” As I got more in-depth into our conversation, I asked her what she loved most about her job. She said “pitching stories to reporters.” Well, I couldn’t imagine a tougher sales job in the world, but in her mind, she wasn’t a “salesperson.” People view sales as un-professional—they picture a stereotypical used-car salesman. And believe me, I’ve been a victim of that type of salesperson. I have been harassed and intimidated in car lots. In fact, I drove a car for 13 years so that I wouldn’t have to go through that horrendous process again. People’s view of salespeople is that they’re pushy, loud, don’t listen, and have no interest in the customer. No wonder no one wants their kids to become salespeople and why most people—even those whose jobs involve selling—do not consider themselves salespeople. Our profession has gotten a bad rap. Yet, when I ask people to think of a really good sales experience they had, I always get the same answers: The salesperson asked good questions, listened to my needs, was respectful,


and provided a thoughtful solution. Isn’t this who all of us are? I’ve always felt that my job as a salesperson was to give my clients enough information to make an informed decision. I truly believe that customers buy—I don’t sell. This is a fine distinction, but an important one. The traits of a good salesperson are exactly what we need in business. They are the traits that will help us navigate our company, get things done, make valuable connections, advance our career, and give us the confidence to be a productive employee and team member. Why can’t we be taught to sell in school?



60 Second Success Tips - "What are the shared qualities of top sellers?" "The Harvard Business School did a study to determine the common characteristics of top salespeople. The evidence they found is clear that most people can be top sellers if they are willing to study, concentrate and focus on performance. Here are the attributes the study found in highly successful salespeople:

• Did not take "no" personally and allow it to make them feel like a failure. They have high enough levels of confidence or self-esteem so that, although they may be disappointed, they are not devastated.

• 100% acceptance of responsibility for results. They didn't blame the economy, the competition, or their company for dips in closings. Instead, the worse things were, the harder they worked to make negatives work to their advantage.

• Above average ambition and desire to succeed. This is the key area because it affected priorities and how they spent their time on and off the job, with whom they associated, etc.

• High levels of empathy. The ability to put themselves in the customer's shoes, imagine needs and concerns and respond appropriately was a habit.

• Intensely goal-orientated. Always knowing what they were going after and how much progress they were making kept distractions from side-tracking them.

• Above average will power and determination. No matter how tempted they were to give up, they persisted toward goals. Self-discipline was a key.

• Impeccably honest with themself and the customer. No matter what the temptation to fudge, these people resisted and gained ongoing trust of customers.

• Ability to approach strangers even when it is uncomfortable.

How many did you rate high in? What should you be doing to help yourself? Selling is a great field filled with opportunity. But that opportunity must be utilized...and that takes concentration and focus."

no more cold calling - salesdog.com · joanne s. black, no more cold calling® | point of view...

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