5 Words That Will Help You Successfully Set Sales Appointments While Prospecting

“Can you help me please?”

You may have been expecting some thing more complex and deeper, but I’m just a simple guy.

Most people like to help other human beings out. If you’re nice, polite, and professional. Read more

A Simple Tool to Improve Sales Prospecting and Time Management

The past few weeks I’ve met up with or had lunch with a social media coach, a sales vice president for an employee benefits company, a financial adviser, and a sales representative for a data and storage solutions company.

Guess what challenges they all have in common? Read more

What does Michael Jordan have to do with prospecting?

Michael Jordan is arguably considered the best basketball player. Ever. 6 time NBA Champion. 5 time NBA MVP. 14 time NBA All-Star. I could go on and on about his accomplishments. But I won’t.

You may or may not know that Michael Jordan tried being a professional baseball player but was not successful at it.

Does that diminish Jordan’s basketball accomplishments? Absolutely not.

How does this apply to sales and prospecting? Read more

Do CEO’s respond to prospecting calls and emails?

The answer is:

A. It depends.

B. Some of the time.

C. Yes, if you have something relevant to say that arouses curiosity.

D. All of the above. Read more

Machine Guns, Shot Guns, and Prospecting

Last week I did some heavy sales and marketing for Connect 5000. My employees and I play a dual role: filling our client’s sales pipelines as well as our internal one. We know that clients do not last forever. We always need to keep our pipeline full because the harsh reality is that clients leave you for a variety of reasons and it may not be your fault at all. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t.

For 3 days, I did some marketing activities and got zero positive responses. 3 days felt like an eternity. It isn’t. We all know that you have to plant a ton of sales seeds for the future. Some sprout up quickly. Others take months.

I felt a little discouraged due to my instant gratification nature and wanted results like NOW. Read more

3 Simple Prospecting Rules For Setting Sales Appointments

1. The goal of cold calling or sales prospecting is to secure a meeting or appointment. (It’s not to sell.)

2. The goal of leaving a voicemail is to get the prospect to return your call by arousing curiosity. (It’s not to sell.)

3. The goal of the sales meeting is to qualify the prospect to see if there’s an opportunity and to uncover pain and problems. (It’s to sell and solve problems!)

Keep it simple!

How to determine decision makers within companies

Happy Good Friday and Easter to you!

In my previous post on how to succeed at  getting solid sales appointments, I wrote about identifying your target niche audience and being as specific as possible.

For example,  at Connect 5000, our target market is software, technology, and consulting firms with large average sales and long sales cycles.  If a company’s average sale is at least $25,000 they’re in our sweet spot. Hopefully you can identify and articulate your company’s in 2 sentences or less. Being specific not only helps you, but potential prospects who approach you as well. Read more

Oil Changes and Selling Steak Recipes to Vegeterians

At 10:00 am this morning I took my Honda CRV in to get my usual oil change at The Import Shop.  It’s a locally owned car repair shop owned by a mom and son and as a small business owner, I prefer to spend my money at other small businesses rather than the dealership right down the road. They provide a great service at a fair rate and I’ve been a customer for well over 7 years. I asked Harriet today if they worked on other import cars or just Honda’s. She said just Honda’s. At one point named their company “The Honda Import Shop” but Honda’s legal department asked them to change their name in a nicely written letter. Read more

Revenue Comes from Sales

“Connectors are people who link us up with the world. People with a special gift for bringing the world together.” – Malcolm Gladwell from his book, “The Tipping Point”

If you could only use one word to describe me, that would be me in a nutshell.

Connector.

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I’m Ray Ruecker – The Connector

Hi! I’m Ray Ruecker with Connect 5000 and want to thank you for taking time to visit our website and blog. I’m the Managing Director for a boutique C-Level scheduling, training, and assessment firm based in Kansas City. We specialize in connecting Fortune 5000 decision makers with technology and consulting companies with high average sales.

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