Jeffrey Gitomer April 25, 2013

I get a ton of emails from people seeking insight or asking me to solvetheir sales dilemmas. Here are a few that may relate to your job, yourlife, and (most important) your sales thought process right now.

Dear Jeffrey, I have cold called in the past and didn’t have a problem withit. But now I am having a hard time getting people to even hear me out.What is the best way to handle cold calls about a free hearing screening for senior citizens and follow up on a direct mailing? Sherri

Sherri, Cold calling sucks. It’s for people that have no other way ofmarketing. Senior citizens meet in groups. They have conclaves. Theyhave bridge parties. They have mahjong parties. They have bingo parties. Go to the parties. Stop cold calling people. It’s a waste of time.

What you need to do is sit in a room and in a normal voice and say, “Howmany people can’t hear me? Well, I guess you’re not raising your handsbecause you can’t hear me.” And then talk about your free test and ask,“Who would like to take it? Maybe bring the test to the group. Go to aKiwanis or Rotary meeting. There are both retired and older peoplethere. Your job is to figure out smarter, better ways to eliminate thecold call.

If you’re gonna use direct mail (goodness gracious!), it’s okay, but its passé. Everyone knows it’s passé. The bottom line is if you get a response from it, then figure out a better way tocommunicate with those who are interested. Often, the senior citizenwill have an email account. Often, the senior citizen will have aFacebook account because they are communicating with theirgrandchildren. Figure that out. Then make the call. Best regards,Jeffrey

Dear Jeffrey, How do you advertise and get customers to your business with no money? Jamie

Jamie, Actually, it’s easier than you think. If you have some customers, getthem to start advertising. Get them to post a little bit of atestimonial for you on their Facebook page and your Facebook page. Start LinkedIn. Start Twitter. And start to use social media to build yourbusiness and build your reputation. It’s free. You don’t have to worryabout the cost of an ad, which may not bring you the results you’rehoping for anyway. Advertising is more free than it has ever been. Yourjob is to figure out a way to take advantage of it using existingcustomers and social media. Best regards, Jeffrey

Jeffrey, Iwork in the agriculture industry. Most of my customers wear blue jeansand cowboy boots. Everything I read about sales says dress up. When Ido, some of my customers make comments about being a city boy, or theysay I look like their banker (even though I usually wear dress slacksand a long sleeve shirt with polished shoes). In your opinion, howshould I dress? Doug

Doug, Wear what you like. Wear whatmakes you feel comfortable. If you’re uncomfortable wearing city boyclothes in front of cowboys, then stop doing it. Wear nice, fashionablecowboy clothes. Make certain that if you’re going to wear boots, thatthey’re polished and have some nice brand name to them. The goal is that your customers will say, “Nice boots!” or “Nice belt!” or “Where didyou get that shirt?” That’s what you want. You want one of a kind stuff. Wear vintage stuff. There’s plenty of vintage cowboy stuff out there.Make certain your look, even though casual, is one notch better than the customer would wear when you’re in that meeting with them so theclothes become a positive discussion rather than a drawback. Jeffrey

Jeffrey, I have recently started in sales at a radio station. I have read a fewof your books and we follow all of your suggestions as far as selling. I am right out of college and I look it, if not younger! I’m afraid if Itry to make appointments in person I will be turned down right awaybecause of my age. How would you suggest I overcome this? Sarah

Sarah, First of all, stop believing that your age is a barrier. Second of all, pre-prepare a 30-second commercial (of around ninety words or less)about the customer before you ever walk in the door. Record it. Walk inand say, “Hey, I just did a commercial for you. Would you like to hearit?”

If the commercial is cool, creative, maybe a little bitedgy, and has a little music in the background they will listen to thatcommercial and call other people in to hear it.

No one will care about your age if you prepare in terms of the customer. Best regards, Jeffrey

Jeffrey, I recently joined a business broker who has been successful for sixyears. I am the new boy. It appears revenue is generated from listingfees and commission on sales. Listings are obtained from direct mail,drop ins, and customers seeing our website. Lots of groundwork has to be done to build up listings from zero in my case. Purchasers are comingall the time, and converting them to sales doesn’t appear to be aproblem. It only takes one purchaser and the commission is good. Whatconcerns me is we seem to be using old methods to get listings. Snailmail and cold calling. Do you have any suggestions on what you would doto fast track the listing process? David

David, When youstart in a job, there is no “fast track.” There’s only what has beendone successfully before. Start there. And when you do start there,you’ll be seen as “fitting in” and “part of the team” or “part of theprocess.” Yes, you’re on your own. Yes, you make your own commissions.You know what? You can’t come in and fight traffic from the first day.What you need to do is harmonize with what’s happening in your place ofbusiness. Do it the old way first and then figure out a new way on yourown. If it were me, I’d be using social media. I’d be usingtestimonials. I’d be using every new strategy I possibly could, but notuntil you’ve made a few sales with the old way. Start there. Bestregards, Jeffrey

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelvebest-selling books including The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book ofSelling. He just published two new sales e-books, available exclusivelyon Amazon’s Kindle. Win Now! and The Sale Re-Defined. They will changethe way you think and sell. His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead youto more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].
 
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