Managing Your Qualified Leads – Are You 100 Strong?

05 Tuesday Feb 2013

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Cold Calling, Lead Management, Phone Scripts, Sales Prospecting, Time Management

Last week, I had an AMAZING week of dialing. I contacted several qualified leads and set a handful of appointments. That also means that I absolutely destroyed my qualified leads list (and that’s a good thing)! So now I need to allocate some time this week towards replenishing my “100 Strong List.”

I call my qualified leads my 100 Strong List because my goal is to always have a list of 100 qualified leads ready to call (having the number right there in the name ensures that I am always mindful of how big it should be). If 100 isn’t your number, that’s OK – decide what your number should be and stick to it. Continue reading »

Dew Recommends: When Working Longer Hours Pays Off

31 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Dew Tinnin in Dew Recommends, Goal Setting

≈ 3 Comments

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Habits, Reach Your Potential, Rituals, Time Management

There are going to be times in your career when extra time and effort are needed. In the insurance industry, all of your client’s renewal dates may come at the same time of the year. In the mortgage business, perhaps rates are incredibly low so everyone is refinancing. For others, it could be a new product launch. Whatever the case may be, it’s important for you to evaluate how to best boost your productivity during that time.

In Brian Tracey’s recent post, he talks about 7 Ways to Increase Your Productivity. They were all great points, but I wanted to expand on one of them: Continue reading »

10 Prospecting Categories – How Many Are You Calling?

28 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by Dew Tinnin in Sales Tips

≈ 1 Comment

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Cold Calling, Sales Prospecting, Time Management

For many salespeople, prospecting for new business can be overwhelming. Typically, it’s because their prospecting list is disorganized, or they don’t know how to create one in the first place. Having well-defined prospecting categories should be the first step in creating your prospecting plan.

When you don’t have an organized list, you don’t know who to call next. So instead of spending time thinking about who to call, take the time to create an organized list. Once your prospects are broken up into types, build time into your schedule to call each type of prospect.

Here are the prospecting categories I use with most of my coaching clients:
Continue reading »

Dew Recommends: New Year’s Resolutions – Pick 1 or Pick None

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Dew Tinnin in Dew Recommends, Goal Setting

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Habits, New Year's Resolutions, Reach Your Potential, Rituals, Time Management

As a child, I loved making New Year’s resolutions. They were usually comical, but I mimicked the resolutions from the adults in my life. My success rate of completing them also mimicked that of the adults around me – I almost always failed. It wasn’t until recently that I switched my methods regarding sticking to resolutions. Now, when I set out to change my behavior, I set clear goals and create a plan to make sure I am successful. Needless to say, my success rate has drastically increased.

In a recent article by Rory Vaden, my partner at Southwestern Consulting™, he partnered with Kelton to survey adults on the success of their New Year’s resolutions.

Dew Recommends: Take Back Control of Your Day

17 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Dew Tinnin in Dew Recommends, Goal Setting

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Attitude, Reach Your Potential, Rituals, Time Management

One of the top reasons our coaching clients start the program is that they feel like they have lost control of their day and they want to gain that control back. It’s not that they are doing the wrong activities, they just need to manage their time in better ways.

In a recent article by Amber Rae, she lays out the ideal situation for the start of a working day for a fictional character, Joe. Imagining some of my clients reading this description (on day one of coaching) made me chuckle – how many of them would be able to relate to a stress free presentation because they were this prepared? Continue reading »

Close Your Door on Your Open Door Policy

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by Dew Tinnin in Sales Tips

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Leadership, Office Drama, Time Management

I’ve heard the term “we have an open door policy” since my very first day at my first “real job.” For years, I too bought into this policy and believed it was the best way to run a business.

Well, today I am making an announcement:

It’s time to close your door on your open door policy.

Yes, it’s time. Continue reading »

Ask Dew: How Long Do I Keep Calling “Maybe Prospects”?

29 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by Dew Tinnin in Ask Dew, Sales Tips

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Attitude, Cold Calling, Follow-up, Objection Handling, Sales Prospecting, Time Management

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 »