There’s an old story on the Internet that’s been retold over and over again.
From Snopes.com:
“A man answers a classified advertisement offering an “almost new” Porsche for the ridiculously low price of $50 and finds that the woman really is selling the car so cheaply, because her husband ran off with a younger woman and asked her to sell the car and send him the money.”
Whether it’s true or not is irrelevant.
My personal commute to work is 1.2 miles each way. 2.4 miles total. I currently drive a Honda CRV with low miles in proportion to how old it is.
I can go 2 weeks without filling up. Am I in the market for a brand new BMW X5? No! If I came across one for $1,000, would I? Read more
Sales Prospecting and Executive Leadership Changes
/in Sales /by Ray RueckerI reached out to the CEO of a technology firm based in Ohio. We chatted and she said there were some organizational changes going on internally. She planned to hire a new Sales Vice President who may use past resources for lead generation.
She said to follow up down the road which I did. I reached out to her and she emailed the new Sales Vice President and me.
To make a long story short, I engaged with the new executive and he recently became a new client of mine. Read more
Knowing Sales Prospecting vs. Doing Sales Prospecting
/in Cold Calls, Prospecting, Sales /by Ray RueckerI came across this great illustration by Dan Miller:
Let me give you an example: Imagine for a moment that your 3-yr old daughter slipped and fell into the pool while playing. You’ve never had swimming lessons, you don’t know the tempurature of the water, you don’t know how deep the water is where she went in, and you aren’t sure that the suit you have on would withstand the effects of the chlorinated water. Are you going to do some research on each of those issues before acting? Of course not – you’re going to jump in immediately. At that instant you know that doing is more important than knowing.
Source: http://www.48days.com/2013/01/22/dont-be-an-over-motivated-under-achiever/?utm_source=48+Days+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b79b95a968-Newsletter_Jan_18_2013&utm_medium=email
Same with sales prospecting! Start doing it immediately! You’ll make mistakes but you can tweak and refine it as you go along!
Book Review: The Pumpkin Plan
/in Cold Calls, Prospecting, Sales /by Ray RueckerI finished Mike Michalowicz’s book, The Pumpkin Plan” on my Nook last night.
Brunt, brash, sarcastic, a little profane at times but straight to the point.
If you own your own business or thinking about it, read this book. Read more
Should you ask a prospect, “How are you today?”
/in Cold Calls, Prospecting, Sales /by Ray RueckerI recently read Kelley Robertson’s blog post titled “Stop Being So Darn Polite”.
Here’s the link: http://fearless-selling.ca/stop-being-nice/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=stop-being-nice”
Key takeaway for me:
Don’t ask a prospect or an executive, “How are you today?”
Replace with some follow options: Read more
Renewing my driver’s license and sales prospecting
/in Cold Calls, Prospecting, Sales /by Ray RueckerA while back I happened to look at my driver’s license and noticed it needed to be renewed soon.
So last Friday, I drove down very early to get my license renewed. I’ve heard the lines are notoriously long. So I left my house at 6:45 am and arrived at 6:49 am. There were already 4 cars there. It was cold, dark, and windy but bearable.
At 6:53 am, I got out of my car and walked to the main entrance door. First in line! Then everyone else did the same thing. The guy behind said he’d been there since 6:15 am. Geesh! Read more
Muhammed Ali and Sales Prospecting
/in Cold Calls, Prospecting, Sales /by Ray RueckerI came across this quote recently by the great boxer, Muhammed Ali:
‘”I hated every minute of training but I said to myself, suffer now so you can live the rest of your life as a champion.”
What’s this have to do with sales prospecting?
Pay the price now, enjoy sales success later. Read more
Are you overqualifying your sales prospects?
/in Cold Calls, Prospecting, Sales /by Ray RueckerWhen you proactively pick up the phone and reach out to prospects, the goal is to set up a meeting.
If you have done you’re homework, you should target companies that have money.
Obvious but sometimes we fail to forget this.
If they are the right company in the right revenue range, they have money. It’s a matter of do they want to spend it with you. Read more
Should You Prospect During the Holidays?
/in Cold Calls, Prospecting, Sales /by Ray RueckerThere’s an old story on the Internet that’s been retold over and over again.
From Snopes.com:
“A man answers a classified advertisement offering an “almost new” Porsche for the ridiculously low price of $50 and finds that the woman really is selling the car so cheaply, because her husband ran off with a younger woman and asked her to sell the car and send him the money.”
Whether it’s true or not is irrelevant.
My personal commute to work is 1.2 miles each way. 2.4 miles total. I currently drive a Honda CRV with low miles in proportion to how old it is.
I can go 2 weeks without filling up. Am I in the market for a brand new BMW X5? No! If I came across one for $1,000, would I? Read more
Post Election and Sales Prospecting
/in Cold Calls, Prospecting, Sales /by Ray RueckerFinally! The 2012 Presidential Election is over and we can get back to normalcy.
I read an article by telephone sales guru, Art Sobzcak.
Here’s the link: http://smartcalling.com/2012/11/heres-the-change-you-control/#more-601 Read more
3 Lessons From Last Night’s Presidential Debate That Applies to Sales Prospecting
/in Cold Calls, Prospecting, Sales /by Ray RueckerMy wife and I watched the 2nd presidential debate town hall style last night between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
Disclosure: I’m a registered independent / non-declared voter.
Here’s 3 lessons you can learn whether you’re supporting Barack Obama or Mitt Romney: Read more