Sales Help NEEDED!!!

Ok here is a little background. I just recently started working for a new company. I love the company very much. My current assignment is to call retail buyers and sell them on our product to be carried in their stores. i have never done this before and don't have the slightest clue on where to start. Anyone want to help me build up some confidence and write a script???

Thanks
Liz -luth0110

Liz did your new employer give you any direction or pointers to follow? How are others in your line of work going about doing this? -BossMan

Thanks for your quick reply. The answer to your question is NO. I am the only employee of this company. My boss told me to get up and get going. Like I stated in my post I don't even know where to begin. I have an idea but once I get the buyer on the phone ( which I have had great luck with ) I freeze and don't know what to say to them. My lack of experience is really showing thru on the phone. Any suggestions you have would be greatly welcomed!! -luth0110

Without knowing more about your market, company, products, etc. all I can do is provide a general answer.

Determine who is your ideal prospects, craft an offer or two that you believe, based on information you have about your market, company, prospects, etc., these ideal prospects will respond favorably to and then deliver the message.

Methods of message delivery might include telephone calls, in-person visits, mail/email, advertising, etc.

Does that help? -BossMan

Is this cold calling or are these calls to stores that have worked with your company in the past? -Jolly Roger

No wonder you freeze, ask you boss how or what the last person said or did -Allan Johnson

Liz, you don't need scripts, canned phone presentations, and you don't need to fumble over your words. First, make sure you know your product inside and out. Be the expert on it.

Next, when you make your calls think in your mind how you can help the person on the other end of the phone make their life better or easier by owning your product. Forget about yourself totally and toss your EGO out the window. If you devote yourself to making others lives better or easier you will reap abundant rewards.

Talk to the people on the phone as if they were a family member or good friend. When you see a great movie you tell your family and friends about it don't you? Believe in your product, and talk to your customers like they are family or friends.

When you shift your thinking from yourself, and devote your talents and skills to helping others, your life will change..Coach Doug -Dougd55

What would you suggest Liz say to these prospects Doug? -Seth

Seth, it depends on what her product/service is. You make notes about the benefits of the product/service, prepare a written outline, ask pertinent questions, and study this before you make calls. If you are passionate about your product/service, and you know your 'stuff,' the words will flow, with practice. I don't advise my students to 'jump in and wing it.' You have to practice Seth. Professional athletes practice daily, and so do professional salespeople...Coach Doug -Dougd55

In Liz's post she says she's new and once she gets a prospect on the phone she doesn't know what to say. Shouldn't she be practicing what to say when the prospect answers the phone? -Seth

Didn't I just answer this same question Seth? Please re-read the above posting again. -Dougd55

I read your post but I didn't see where you suggested what Liz should actually say to her prospects when she makes contact. -Seth

Hi Seth: What Liz needs to say must come from her making notes about her product, creating an outline for her phone conversations with questions, and practicing her delivery from this information. I don't know what her specific product/service is, so I couldn't give her specific instructions. She must create these on her own based on her notes and outline.

And she should create these notes and outline based on her desire to help other people make their lives better or easier. Never try to make a sale based on what you will get out of it, or how much money you will make. Always make a sale based on how you are helping others. When you satisfy other people's needs and desires instead of your own you create 'raving fans' who will send you more business. You build 'customer equity' in your business.

Does that make sense? Hope so. Thanks Seth..Coach Doug

p.s. Seth, if you would like to see what my training is about I justed posted an article about the law of attraction and selling on the SELF IMPROVEMENT category. -Dougd55

Not really. -Seth

Knowing what to say when you call will give you great confidence and make cold calling less intimidating.

This excerpt from one of Jacques prospecting articles gives an idea of what to say.

-Liberty

I was also looking for advice to selling to retail stores...I have sold person to person for years and now have the opportunity to do both. I have never sold to a business, so I was wondering if there is a professional approach that is expected......

Do you phone first...?
Make an appt....?
Stop by the shop?

For those that have done this, maybe you could help... -msmarly

Hi Marcy: No matter if you're selling one-on-one, or selling to a large retail store chain. The bottom line is it's all about 'relationships.' You must build a relationship with the person/s who will be making the buying decisions.

Put yourself in the place of the person you are going to contact. Ask yourself what type of person and what actions would 'open you up' to speak with this salesperson? If it's a large retail operation, it's tough to get by the 'gatekeepers' and make personal contact with decision-makers. If the business is small to intermediate, you have a chance to do a 'walk-in' and speak with the right person. But not always.

A method that works well is to find out who the decision-maker is, then find something that would be valuable to them and send it to them. It could be an article, report, or book about their business or industry, a great website related to their business, or even better...a free sample of your product/service.

You must stand out from the 'crowd' that they deal with on a regular basis. You must make yourself 'unique.' A newsletter you create about your industry is also a great free gift if it contains up-to-date, valuable information.

If you don't get an immediate response or appointment, continue to send valuable 'items' to this person. Your competition will not be doing this. Your name will be remembered over time. You will eventually secure an appointment, and you will have made an impression.

Once your foot is in the door, you then build a relationship with this person. You may not get an immediate sale, but you continue to provide valuable service and information. And you also have the chance to provide your product/service once a relationship is created.

Much of your relationship planning will depend on your product/service Marcy. Some are designed to be a first-call, one-time-only sale, and others will be on-going sales that require a consistent relationship be built and cultivated.

Whether you see the buyer once, or on an on-going basis, you must establish a 'relationship' with this person.

...Coach Doug -Dougd55

Liz,

I would sit down an make a script of open ended questions for myself to follow. Develop some open ended questions (relevant to your prospect and industry) and make some calls using those questions. Don't call your best prospects first. Wait until you get more comfortable. Ask your open ended questions, listen to the responses and go from there.
Record the calls. You can get a digital phone recorder for under $100.
Listen to the recordings. you should be able to 'hear' things that you're not picking up when you talk to people.
Hope that helps.

Susan -susana

Thanks Doug, I appreciate the feedback....

That helps.... -msmarly

Find out what the previous appointment done then contact your clients and find out how they want to work with you? -Wowsap

I agree with Wowsap - find out was has been happening - pick it up from there and run with it - if something doesn't seem to work you will pick it up on the way and you can make changes from there. -EmmaC

Going the "needing help" route generally seems to works for me because people like to rescue people in need. For instance:
"I'm not sure you are the right person to talk to, but...."
"I was hoping that you could help me, I have this (product) and I am new in the area. Do you use (this)? Who would I talk to about (this)?"

If you are given a current client base, I would start there. if you are phoning, introduce yourself, ask for an appointment to meet them and to discuss their current situation. If you are walking in, same thing, ask if this is a good time to talk or if they would rather make an appointment for a later date. Get a sense of their company/store and understand what their goals are for the store. Talk to them about the current products they are buying and anything new that might be available. Look at the products that they are currently buying and see if you can figure out how you can help them increase sales by switching up or adding to their current product line. -sallysellsseashells

Hi Liz

I will be happy to help you write a script. I think you probably need one to start with as long as you can keep from sounding canned. Learn as much as you can about your product. Roll play with friends and family. Be yourself and don't be afraid to tell your prospects your are new, that will cover a multitude of mistakes. If your prospect asks a question you don't know then say, "I don't know but I will find out for you." If you can make face to face calls do that as often as possible. People like to know who they are doing business with.

Again, I think a script will be good for you and I will help you write one for you but I will need to know what your product is and what you do. Just give me a little background.

Warmest Regards

Martha Prince
Advertising Executive -MPrince

Ok... I'm not an expert by any means, however, I personally think that there are three things one should be doing when one is new to the business.

Knowing your product inside and out is of course essential. Knowing how you use it, how they use it, and how people get along without your product is also of necessity, IN MY OPINION.

I think having a script to run on makes sense regardless of whether you're a new sales person or an old one. Whether you have it in front of you all the time probably depends on how well you learn't your tradecraft.

Learning comes from practice, and practice comes hard for some, so you have to keep doing it. Doing it with a script works. This mindgame thing... mind map thing has one thing in common with what we do when we do calls...

We have a script with "spokes" to points of objection, deferral, etc, etc... little keys to trigger responses. For example... my son and I use a script something like this....

Hi my name is tom and I work for/represent a company named/called AFLAC, is Mr. BigOne in this morning? Mr BigOne, Hi, my name is tom and the reason for my call this morning is to ask if we could schedule a few minutes in order to get your opinion on whether or not one of our makeyourichtoday programs would have a positive impact on your company. Could we get together for a few minutes later on this morning?

Yes.... schedule...

What is this about?

That's the reason I'm asking you for an appointment you nitwit... Nah... kidding.... more like…

The reason I’m asking for a few minutes of your time, and by that I mean probably no longer than it would take for us to have a cup of coffee together, is that there are several elements to this that are difficult to express over the phone. Could we have a few minutes this morning so that we can evaluate this together and I promise you, if we can’t come to agreement that this would have a positive impact on your business I’ll help you walk me out the door, fair enough? How about 10:00, would that work? (time)

What do you mean by makeyourichtoday programs?

Mr. BigOne, I'm not trying to be evasive; I appreciate that you want to save time and come to a decision on whether you want to go forward with learning about something like this, but we’ll spend more time on the phone than we can in person. Many of our clients have felt the same way you do right now, but after hearing and seeing how it would benefit their companies, have found that these programs have had a favorable impact on their companies performance/morale/productivity/benefit program/retention etc. Is 10:00 a good time for us to evaluate this this together? (feel, felt, found)

I have spokes from this relating to certain objections… such as…

I’m not interested!

Mr BigOne I understand that. I wouldn’t expect you to be interested in something you have little information about, but that is why I’m asking for your help with this and would like you to give me your opinion on whether or not this would be of benefit to you and your employees. (help/opinion)

Look, I promise to not take up any more of your time than it’d take us to have a cup of coffee, and I’ll help you walk me out the door if we aren’t a good fit for your company. You won’t regret learning about these opportunities for your company. Would 10:00 be Ok? (no regrets)

And on …. J

Aloha... :cool: -rattus58

Before writing a script or figuring out what you need to start saying. Go visit the retail storss to see for youself how you can help them with your product.Isn't the first step finding out how you can help the client?Do they have space for your product and finding the space for your product .
When you do fact finding it becomes easier for you to address the conversation with your clients and what to say. -rich34232

Hello msmarly

This is what has worked well for me; Reguardless of whether you phone or you make an in person cold call, your first call should be for an appointment only. In my experience, and I have tried several ways of doing, what works best for me is to simply walk in with a business card, introduce myself and ask for a time that would be good for me to return. If you want ot use the phone of appointment setting a script would be useful in the beginning however,I don't know what your product is so I can't advise on a script. If you want to give me more product information I will be happy to help you with a script if you feel you need one. Then at the second call you are ready to get down to business because you have the clients permission to be there and you are comfortable and ready to present your great product!

Warmest Regards -MPrince

Liz

After having read all these posts you are probably more confused then you were before although some of them given good advice...let me tell you what has worked for me; I listen to every bit of advice I can. I take it to heart and be grateful for it; I then use what works for me. We are not all the same and the way I do things may be very uncomfortable for you. You must do what feels comfortable to you! If you are not comfortable with what you are saying you will come across as phony. Be yourself, keep the clients best interest at heart and you will do just fine!

Warmest Regards -MPrince

Liz,
Here's a little different approach. Do most of your buyers purchase your products in a similar fashion? If so, are there benefits to buying the product from you over a competitor? In other words, are there any portions of the buying criteria that clearly favor your company? If there are, prepare a short report that highlights those things in conjunction with some helpful information about using the product and offer to send it to your prospects for free (through email). Title the report something like "10 Things You Must Know Before Purchasing . . . " (whatever your product happens to be).

This way you'll be offering them something of value when you call, and you wont get as much sales call reluctance, and you'll be more confident when you call because you are trying to be helpful before attempting to sell anything. You'll also be able to build a list of interested prospects by doing this because they'll either agree to receive the report or not. If the report is valuable to the prospect, you may even get some incoming calls versus having to make a bunch of cold calls.

Hope this helps, and good luck. thmbp2; -rogerbauer

Throw yourself on the mercy of the prospects.
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Hi I wonder if you'd help me.

I've kinda been thrown in at the deep end with this new job selling (xyz) and I am completely lost as to how I should start. Is there anyone in your company that could point me in the right direction or give me a little guidance.

It's honest, earnest, truthful and cannot be faked.

What would all the experts here do if they received such a call? -helisell

Rather than having someone help you write a script, it is far more important for you to understand the basics of selling ... for example, the types of questions to ask in openings, how to handle objections etc etc. It sounds as though you have not had much sales training ?

A script may be helpful to remind you of some key points but your conversation will be more natural, and you will be far more successful if you understand how to sell well, and throw your script away. -TonyB

Wow, Doug there is SO much to agree with in your statement! When you are putting yourself out of the way and you know your product and you are out to truly help your potential customer, that is the best possible scenario. That being said, I believe that scripts have their place. bgwnk; I am very familiar with my company and products and that is even our mission statement.. helping others.. so my focus is definetely there with each and every call I make, but esp with cold calls, and for someone new to the game, having a script to go off of at least to get the initial conversation started can be very helpful and a good safety net in case the mind goes blank (I know mine still does sometimes.. xerm; ) My advice to ask around and read in the different forums, I have found a ton of useful information and very helpful and friendly people here!

Good luck!

Lisa -lisamom

All the suggestions are good and I would follow them, but I will suggest that you want to first send each prospect a personal letter with a brochure. In the letter - tell them that you will be calling and when. This way, you are not making a cold - cold call. Make sure that you only send out enough letters to handle the calls you will be able to make the following week. -Write4Me