17 Sunday Mar 2013
Posted in Ask Dew, Goal Setting
Tags
Dew: Our sales goal last month was $750,000 in new business. We missed it by $4,500. Is it OK to celebrate a barely missed sales goal? -Connie
Connie, hopefully your sales goals are aggressive enough that if you almost hit them, you will still be very productive. But it’s also important to make sure your goals have specific meaning if you want your future goals to have the right motivation attached to them.
11 Monday Feb 2013
Posted in Ask Dew
Dew: Every time I tell my associate to correct an error or tell her to do something she says I’m being bossy or mean. How can I change my approach? -Carl
Carl, it looks like you’ve already taken the first step: realizing you need to change your approach. I’ve found that this kind of misunderstanding generally revolves around two issues:
07 Monday Jan 2013
Posted in Ask Dew, Sales Tips
Dew: I have demanding clients who call and want answers immediately. How do I get them to be patient while I fetch their file and find the answer? -Molly
Molly, I hear my client’s stories of pushy customers like this all the time, but this solution is often an easy one: Continue reading »
27 Friday Jul 2012
Posted in Ask Dew, Sales Tips
Tags
Dew: When I get a call back from one of my prospects, I often find myself sending them to voicemail because I don’t have their information at my fingertips. How do I get over the fear of answering the phone on the spot? -Jake
Jake, this is a very common problem – especially from sales professionals who have just started at a new company or are selling a new product line. But just about any sales professional can fall victim to that small moment of panic when a big prospect calls at an inconvenient time. Continue reading »
05 Thursday Jul 2012
Posted in Ask Dew, Sales Tips
Dew: Help! I just got a call from my customer; he wants to cancel our contract. How do I recover? -Josh
Josh, that dreaded “buyers remorse” call is one of the worst calls to receive in your sales career. Usually when I get this question, it has more to do with sulking over the lost deal, not trying to re-sell it.
When your customer wants to cancel, the deal can often be saved. You just have to CREW them. CREW is one of the sales ninja techniques we use at Southwestern Consulting and it works phenomenally. So instead of sulking over a lost deal, spend 5 minutes on this technique and then call your client back and CREW them. Continue reading »
29 Tuesday May 2012
Posted in Ask Dew, Sales Tips
Dew, I never feel like I can cross a customer off my list when they tell me “maybe.” How long do I keep calling these “maybe prospects”? -Christina
Good question! I struggled with this myself for a very long time.
One of our mantras at Southwestern Consulting is that a “yes” is great, a “no” is OK, but a “maybe” is a killer. Maybe prospects are much worse than a “no” because at least with a “no” we can let it go and move on. “Maybes” leave us in a state of lingering, hoping that they will indeed say “yes,” so we continue to call them month after month (or in some cases, week after week), essentially wasting our time. Continue reading »
23 Thursday Feb 2012
Posted in Ask Dew, Sales Tips
Dew: Why do some people answer my call and then immediately tell me that they can’t talk right now because they’re in a meeting? - Jon
GREAT question, Jon! This is an issue that has bothered me for years.
The short answer is this is just bad phone etiquette – but let’s dig in a little deeper. Continue reading »