Sales stratagies “Start Now!” In January/February

[Jim Farrell, Blastcrete Equipment Company]

Well Pavemanpro’s, i harvested a nice buck in Wisconsin, and had my fill of the woods for now. But had a wonderful time with my family at hunting camp. Around the campfire i was thinking about this forum and the wonderful tools that we have today. Back when (not to long ago) we did not have these type of websites to log on to! We had to rely on trade shows to find out whats new. We had very few if any trade Mag’s. so we were pretty much in the dark with regards to anything new out there. Wow, have times changed. I like promoting all my fine additives and the great service Maintenance Inc. offers our Pavemanpro’s all over the world. Since i got back into the office, i have heard from a few of you who asked me “When typically do you start marketing for the 2009 season?” Great questions from all of you. First of all, sales never stop! Just because the season is weather dead, does not mean the sales of your services stop! Did you know that most budgets for the new year are in the formation stages in January and February? Final budgets are usually approved before March/April. But they have to obtain a number for the budget to become viable in the first place. Think about it, Joe at the paper plant is head of maintenance, upper management will shoot down the line budget requests for the new year. Joe has to supply upper management with a list of all parking lot expenditure’s that he feels will be necessary to keep the companies liability to a minimum. He will need a number and will need it during the next couple months. Some “oldtimers” that take maintenance quotes each year have a good idea how much to plug in for the new year, but so many managers do not! Also, there might be a change in management that you do not know yet. That is why you need to continue with your sales effort thru these next couple months after the holidays. I always had a couple sales people and myself telemarketing everyone in my target area in January and February. I would ask them if they will be needing any “Budget Numbers” for pavement maintenance for the new year? This will also tell you a few things that will save you time and money. When you call on a potential client, that person will say yes or no.. or will tell you they will be needing a number soon. (Now you have a date that the person is needing a Budget quote by.) Also tells you they will be doing something next year. Telemarketing is not for everyone, telemarketing can be very profitable to a company if the salesperson is expierienced in telemarketing. For those who have not utilized this method, may find it a bit awkward. I will write a simple telmarketing “Do’s & Don’ts” for those of you that want to give it a try. Never be discouraged, even after many rejections, as you will succeed with one or two that will make it all worth the effort you are putting in! The salt of a salesperson is tanacity. Stick it out until you feel your talking is smooth, deliberate, and informative for the potential client, remember you are only gathering info. at this time. Not closing a deal! So here is the basics of TELEMARKETING. “The salesperson uses the phone primarily for two reasons: To set appointments, or to keep in contact with prospects and customers between sales visits and seasons.” However, telemarketing is also done by secretaries, temporary personnel, outside agencies, or sales people for the purpose of qualifying leads for the sales person to follow up on and (Setting Appointments.) Since the telephone calls may be the first real Contact the prospect has with your company, you and your sales staff should handle it in the following manner.
BE FRIENDLY! Always begin the conversation with a friendly, but not overbearing,greeting. You will find that if you are smiling while you are speaking, your tone will automatically come across as upbeat and friendly.
RESPECT THE CUSTOMERS TIME. Make sure the prospect is free to speak with you. Like you, prospects are very busy. Be sensitive to their time constraints. If you find you have called the prospect at an inconvienient time, set up a time to call back.
USE THE CUSTOMERS NAME. It fosters a feeling to your prospect you are truly speaking to them, laying a foundation for a a new relationship. Use MR. & MS when addressing the prospect, shows respect.
LISTEN: Stop talking, you will not learn about the prospect, their concerns if you are doing all the talking. If you listen the prospect will tell you “how” to sell your services to them.
SPEAK SLOWLY. Do not rush your message, it will come off as canned. Speak slowly, so your words will “sink in”. Pauses in your conversations will allow the prospect to ask questions.
AVOID ASKING QUESTIONS THAT MAY BE ANSWERED “YES OR NO!” If you have a prospect who seems reluctant to speak, ask OPEN ENDED questions that encourage a full reponce. EXAMPLE: rather than ask “Did you recieve the materials i sent to you?” ASK, “What did you think of the materials i sent?”
LET YOUR PROSPECT KNOW YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THEM. Once again, establish a good repport with them. Find out about them, Be straight forward with them on what you are offering. make notes about the conversation, like mabe a vacation was mentioned, bring up “How was your vacation next time you talk. keeps him interested in you.
Remember Pavemanpro’s, you are information gathering. You will be pleasantly surprised at the great relationships that start with a telemarketing call! Try it, it works!!! If you do not, you will miss out on the budget cherry picking that every business has to submitt to form a yearly budget. If you want to know more about telmarketing stratagey, feel free to log on the Pavemanpro forum and ask away, that is why we are here! For you! Will be posting more on Pavemanpro next week!! Be safe and happy holidays!!!

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