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Are You Scroll-Worthy?

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Are You Scroll-Worthy?

I have a colleague, someone I also consider a friend, who said something recently that I just can’t shake.

“If I have to even scroll down a tiny bit to get to the end of a post, I usually won’t do it.  I have other things to do.”

“What about my blogs?” I asked.  “Are they Scroll -Worthy?”

“Not all of them.” he smirked.

Is this what we’ve come to?  Is this Scroll thing (or lack thereof) the new thumbs up or down about the value and intrigue of your content?

Forget about views and impressions I guess, it takes almost no effort “scroll” but now  it must be earned?   Is being “Scroll-Worthy” now a measure of success?

My friend says he’s not alone; that others feel the same way about the scroll.  What else does this mean?

  • That being on the first page of Google results is great – but you better be above the “scroll”???
  • That you’d better be more thoughtful about how large the picture is at the top of your blog post is because you may not get a single swipe??
  • That you need to march out there and protest the smaller IPAD mini and the death of PC’s and large monitors because your content needs more time to be seen and deemed Scroll Worthy?
  • That Eye tracking glasses are next for all and forget the scroll issue – just looking down and left to right will some day need be earned?

With this post at just 306 words, I’m praying it stays above that scroll line dear reader, so you needn’t pass judgement on the quality of this post.  I used to think the fact that you just viewed the post was a sign of worthiness but alas if if I could get you to just scroll a bit….

 
Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Mark’s Blog

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The 3 Best Cold ( and not so cold) Calling Tips

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The 3 Best Cold ( and not so cold) Calling Tips

Calling out to small business?  It’s not dead.  Cold calling, Warm calling, Smart calling – whatever you want to call it.  It ain’t dead.

And if you do it right you can make an impression “above the clutter”, earn 20 seconds more or get that appointment or meaningful conversation going.

So let’s cut to the chase and all the quadrillions bytes of information out there (including everything I’ve written) about how to do it well and put only 3 of the best of the best out there for you today.

 

“45 seconds”.  …..“Did I catch you at a horrible time or do you have just 45 seconds?”   (Who really doesn’t- the phone was picked up (And do you realize how much you can actually say in 45 seconds?))   And what sales rep actually says “45 seconds?” (Nobody).    I skipped over the greeting but you get the point.   You can use “45 seconds” or “65 seconds” or heck “73 seconds” —the point is it is differentiatingly odd (attention getting), short (45 seconds is time tension goodness).  Try it.  It works.  Oh, and make sure your 45 seconds is killer and you may earn some more time.

Local Local Local :  Got a local company name you’ve done business with?  Got some local customer counts of those you are doing business with?   Use them right up front.  All business is local (if given a choice).  “Mr. Johnson, there 14 customers right there in Salem trust us already with their….”.   (Credibility, Popularity, Local).   It doesn’t matter if you are not local- just make sure some of your customers are. 

Insight, no strings attached.  Don’t always sell you, the company, the product, the appointment, the opportunity up front- sell Insight.  This real example works – “I can give you 3 tips in just 3 minutes to get more sales no strings attached, just by looking at your storefront…”  Prospect interested?  If yes, then that is because there is a reason, a need, a gap, a worry, an ego, a dream or all of the above and THAT is more than enough to qualify as lead worth pursuing.   You make the Insight make sense for your effort and lead with that.  Smart sells.

 

By the way, these 3 tips work just as well too when “warm” calling – cross selling into new product spaces to existing clients. 

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Mark’s Blog

Mark’s Twitter

 

 

Move Along, Nothing To See Here

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Move Along, Nothing To See Here

Watching inane television, rubber necking at traffic accidents or viewing any of the top 10 YouTube videos on any given day are just 3 things that are an insipid waste of time and focus.  Move along, nothing to see in any of that. 

Here are some other things not worth focusing on for you folks who Sell to feed yourself and your kids. 

  • If a prospect’s hand is raised (no matter how high) then you needn’t start from scratch with that selling process.  Move along, nothing to see here.  No need to create interest already created, rather fuel the interest and move the sales process forward.
  • If you had that cup of coffee already and got caught up on your colleagues weekend activities (or better yet didn’t waste time getting caught up) – get in your car or get on the phone and start connecting with prospects/clients.  Move along, nothing to see here.  Keep moving – time is precious and hard to get from your busy clients. 
  • If you have presented the solution, painted a compelling picture of how the client benefits from using it and removed the perceived risk of their investment then you needn’t hang around that part of the selling process any longer.  Move along, nothing to see here.   Ask for the business or presume you have it and move forward.
  • If you’ve got a few questions answered from your client then quit asking more.  Move along, nothing to see here.  Incessant discovery of clients’ wishes, dreams and goals is exhausting for them- teach them something smart instead.  That will move the sales process forward.
  • If you’ve gotten two “Send me some info’s”, one missed planned call and a couple of “I’ll look it over’s..” then you needn’t keep nurturing this lead.  Move along, nothing to see here.  The prospects willingness to change is not there- they will stay with whatever they are doing today (including nothing) and are just trying to be polite. 

 

I bet there are a dozen other wasted foci out there; feel free to share (and teach us) in comments!

 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Mark’s Blog

Mark’s Twitter

Time Forward

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Time Forward

Sales isn’t about moving the ball forward.  Sales isn’t about getting to the next agreed upon step.  Sales isn’t about pushing it through the pipeline. 

That’s way too advanced.  

Sales is about earning time forward. 

Sales is about doing so well in the first 5 seconds that you earn 10 seconds more from the prospect or client.  Sales is about doing so well in the those next 10 seconds that you get the big prize which is maybe 30 seconds more of that prospect or client’s attention. 

And if you nail those 30 seconds really, really, really well you might just get the equivalent of what feels like a week’s worth of time in this rough and tumble world of Sales, and earn maybe 5 whole minutes more. 

And then and only then, you may garner the right to purchase (yes, I do mean purchase) more of your prospect or client’s time.

You see, time is the most precious commodity there is today.  Worth more than gold I’d say.   And to earn this time at the beginning and to do so well that you get the chance to buy more of it later,  that my friends,  is what you ought to be obsessively focused on doing right now with all of your time.  

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

A New Sales Model

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Have a new sales model for you.  Don’t fall asleep just yet, you should care about this.  It’s simple but different.   Different is good.  

A sales model for our purposes here is the process or the steps you take to make a sale.   The process you trust, the process you live by.   Sales models are important; they are a roadmap so to speak, of how to do what you want to do, which is of course, to grow the business.  

You use sales models all the time.  Want to go out on a date with someone?  Here is an age old popular model to get that done.

Prepare / Search / Impress / Close

First you go and Prepare (look sharp, take a shower that day (you can do it!) then go Search ( scope out the lounge, the beach, the bake sale – whatever) then Impress ( sound wicked funny/ smart/ nice and get your favorite pick up lines ready like “Excuse me do you have a tissue? I was just listening to Susan Boyle on my IPod“) and finally the Close (“I have a hankering to watch The Notebook again, would you like to join me?”)

Traditional Sales models have been around forever too.  A typical sales model is something like:

Rapport /Discovery / Present / Close.

That is to develop a connection, ask good questions, make a product offer and then close the sale.  You get it. 

I don’t much like the traditional sales models.  Not for us.  Not for anyone really, but especially not for us. 

Here is a new sales model

Time / Trust / Create Need / Discover / Advocate / Close / Support 

Looks complicated?  It’s not.  Don’t worry about the last 4 here (discovery, advocate, close, support), those are traditional and something to detail another day.  Just think about the first 3; Time, Trust & Create Need, those are the “New” in this sales model versus traditional ones.  

The New Sales Model is front loaded like never before.  It needs to be. 

The very beginning of any sales process has been underwritten and underplayed for 50 years.  Getting attention, earning the right to talk with or market to folks wasn’t like then what it is today.  It’s different now; how you really start or really begin is the most important part of the sales process.  Do that well, superbly well and the rest of the sales process is easy.   That’s why we need to change the traditional model.

Dig up any sales training or sales models from today or yesteryear and you’ll find almost nothing on getting salespeople to see TIME as a critical commodity that must be purchased from the prospect before anything happens.

Search Google and look for all the TRUST training and theory out there for sales forces of the world; you’ll find some for sure, but mostly you’ll find a lot of superficial blather about “building rapport” or “forming relationships”.  Used to be a hearty handshake or some smart product knowledge or “my office is down the street” was trust enough to get the sales process started.  No more.  Nobody’s company has that kind of infallibility anymore.   It’s take a lot more and a lot different now to earn the Trust you need today.

Instead of CREATE NEED help, you’ll find a gazillion sales theories and courseware around “finding needs” or “finding pain points”.  It’s as if the prospects and customers of the world are walking about “injured”, “lost” or “clueless” about themselves anxiously waiting for a company or sales rep to come in diagnose and prescribe medication to fix the pain.   I don’t think so. 

Sales Theory in large part is not keeping up with the times.    Much else is different in the marketplace than when some of the biggies rolled out their iconic sales models (companies like Wilson Learning, Dale Carnegie, Huthwaite and the like).  What’s changed?

    Everybody has gotten smarter; your customers in a couple of clicks can get a lot more info and now need a sales rep to be smarter than them in different places, in more Trusted places.

    It’s harder to be unique.  Companies are changing and entering new spaces but consumers still have lots of choices (more than ever) for a provider.  It’s like Malcolm Gladwell in his book Blink who said essentially that “if given too many choices, then nothing happens”.   Create Need my friends.

    Used to be you could be assured your customer “listened” to you, now they are in control.  Their Time and attention is precious and they know it- YOU know it.   Marketing is changing radically to respect this; Salespeople need to too.

This model is your map to better success.    This model needs our attention, our rallying around, our design and planning around.

Old sales models are for old companies and old sales reps in old marketplaces.   Don’t believe for a minute we are old.  Nope, we’re new, brand new.   We have to be. 

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark

Want more fodder for thinking about the new model?   Take note..

  • Seth Godin gets totally the “time” piece of the model; so read his book Permission Marketing. 
  • Gitomer and Steven Covey Jr. (the son, not that father) get the “trust” piece fairly well so have a gander at Trust by Gitomer and Speed of Trust by Covey Jr. 
  • Lastly go here  http://www.icrinc.com/web/videoportfolio.php  Scroll down to Easton Bell Sports who essentially base their sales philosophy on “creating need”.  Love it