I almost couldn’t believe it.
When I first saw the marketing power of the telephone I was absolutely amazed.
We’d just started PMA and developed a direct mail program for independent insurance agencies that was generating a strong 3-5% response. Then one day a client told us they boosted their hit rate by 500% just by having one of their CSRs call the households that didn’t bother to return the Business Reply Card. Continue reading →
It’s close to the end of the quarter, and you’re feeling the pressure to close new accounts and hit your numbers before the deadline arrives.
To do that, you’ve got to work smart, and you’ve got to work fast. There’s no time to waste with the wrong prospects, the ones that won’t be able to make up their minds, or clearly won’t be ready to do business with you until many months ahead.
But neglecting those prospects in favor of the ones you’re more confident about closing now can be a huge mistake. Continue reading →
Let’s start with this: talk is an activity; communication is a process. You can’t sell anything without communication. But you can talk and talk and not communicate a thing. I’m sure you know what that’s like from personal experience: not fun.
Communication is about bridging gaps. Sometimes those gaps are huge. People may literally speak a different language, or have very different life experiences than us, or, more commonly, they may simply have other things on their mind. Continue reading →
In the game of baseball, the best hitters develop a good eye for pitches that are right in the strike zone. In criminal investigations, the great detectives know how to zero in on the real suspects and avoid wasting time chasing red herrings. If you want to be a sales champion, you’ve got to focus on the most likely prospects instead of the tire-kickers.
That distinction may not always be crystal clear at the outset, but if you follow these four guidelines, you’ll eliminate time wasting targets more quickly and write more accounts in less time. Continue reading →