THE EVOLUTION OF ONLINE MARKETING

THE EVOLUTION OF ONLINE MARKETING

A brief History of online marketing relative to the perceived importance of the Telephone

copy write ice2eskimos 2013:  Images courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net left to right Picture 1,3 David Castillo, Picture 2 Renjith Krishnan, Picture 6 Nattavut, Picture 7,10 digitalart, Picture 8, cooldesign.

30 Open Ended Sales Questions

30 Open Ended Sales Questions

PLAN TO WIN - NEVER ASSUME

I found these about a year ago, when I was looking for training material you probably already know most of them, but I find it useful to have lying around. They were generated by Give More Media Inc, The "Plan to Win" is all me!

Information Gathering

What prompted you/ your company to look into this?

What are your expectations/ requirements for this product/ service?

What process did you go through to determine your needs?

How do you see this happening?

What is it that you’d like to see accomplished?

With whom have you had success in the past?

With whom have you had difficulties in the past?

Can you help me understand that a little better?

What does that mean?

How does that process work now?

What challenges does that process create?

What challenges has that created in the past?

What are the best things about that process?

What other items should we discuss?

Qualifying

What do you see as the next action steps?     

What is your timeline for implementing/ purchasing this type of service/ product?

What other data points should we know before moving forward?

What budget has been established for this?

What are your thoughts?

Who else is involved in this decision?

What could make this no longer a priority?

What’s changed since we last talked?

What concerns do you have?

Establishing Rapport, Trust and Credibility

How did you get involved in…?

What kind of challenges are you facing?

What’s the most important priority to you with this? Why?

What other issues are important to you?

What would you like to see improved?

How do you measure that?

Source:  Give More Media Inc. This was written by Sam Parker. Of JustSell.com

The day I realized I was not perfect…

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The day I realized I was not perfect was the first day I actually started growing. I remember the day very clearly. I was 2 months off being 20, I was running my own business and had for the best part of 18 months been selling my ass off making what I thought was amazing money.

I thought “I am s@#t hot, I’ve got this whole business thing nailed, I am going to be a millionaire by the time I am 25!”

Tax time came. My first since I had started generating good turnover (damn I am going to being paying through the nose), bloody tax man.
Then came the reality check – my business was running at a loss with expenses and operating costs higher than revenue.

The realisation hit me hard, my ego was severely bruised and it took several discussions with mentors and friends before I truly accepted the reality.  However once I had, I finally started to grow as a businessman.

The following year I actually made some money, but what I learnt in that moment of enlightenment is that the moment you think you know everything, you start going backwards.

Every year since, I have made it a habit to sit down, at least twice a year, and self-assess. Every time I do so I find “opportunities for growth” and remind myself I am NOT perfect… But I am little closer then I was last time!

Have you had a moment of enlightenment and when was the last time you self-assessed?

Questioning

The most important part of the discovery/ uncovery process is questioning. The right questions get you the right answers, the answer you need to build the perfect pitch for the client.

So here are some tips on asking the right questions

·     Before you start make sure you’re ready to listen, no point asking questions if you not going to pay attention the answers.

·     Be very clear on what your objectives are – questioning should identify and establish the strongest needs/ challenges and objectives of the client.

·     There are two main sorts of questions: open and closed questions 
open questions gather information and build rapport; closed questions filter, qualify and seek commitment. (Most articles focus on the importance of open question, so I will spend a little more time on closed in this post).

Open and Closed Questions

o   Open Questions 

§ Typically Open questions begin with Who? What? Why? Where? When? and How?

e.g “what are your core objectives this year”

o   Closed Questions 

§  Used correctly closed questions are very effective, closed questions are used to qualify and confirm your interpretation, and can be answered with a yes or no.

eg."So your key objective is to drive footfall?” or

“So if I can add $XX in value are you happy with everything else in the proposal?” 

§  Closed questions can also help you regain control of the meeting if at any point it starts losing focus, or stagnates. They are also useful to get an agreement or buy in on each section of the meeting before moving on; 

e.g. “I can see we have some further concerns here. Can we agree to move forward with the rest of the proposal and then review this particular point in greater detail once we have the whole picture?”

§  Closed question are also very useful during closing as they can be used to move the buyer through their decision making process and help cement in their mind that you have meet their needs. 

e.g. “So as discussed you agree that the proposal meets your XXX needs.”

So next time you are on your way to a discovery meeting, give yourself some time to plan your questioning, and make the best of your time with the client.

If you have favourite question I would love to hear them. 

101's FOR DISCOVERY MEETINGS

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With a modern consultative selling approach, the ability to conduct a successful discovery meeting is imperative. The discovery meeting is where you get the initial information from which you will build your proposals and show how you can add value to your prospects business. Over the next 3 post I will be sharing some tips on how to run a successful discovery meeting, from preparing for the meeting to the types of question you need to ask, and even how to listen to the answers. 


So here a few 101's for setting up and framing the initial meeting 


Make sure you are dressed appropriately, greet the client with a smile, be professional, and be confident.  

·      Plan your meeting – YES that’s right, plan your meeting. Before you walk into a meeting, you need to have done some research on the client. You should have a clear goal as to what you want, at a minimum, to get from the meeting and you should also have a good idea on how you can add value to their business.

·     Introduce yourself, what your job is (if your title does not clearly represent what you do – explain it briefly), who you work for, and what your company does (ensure this is within the context of your UPB* and VBR);

·       From the outset, take control of the meeting by setting the agenda –

• Explain the purpose of your visit, again orientate around your VBR,
• Establish how much time your prospect has and agree a time to finish
• Ask if it's okay to take notes (some business information may be sensitive,)

·    Try to focus on their business from the outset by asking if it's okay to start by asking a few questions or if they would prefer a quick overview of your own company first. If the later is the case, plan to give a quick, concise and honest overview that establishes credibility, and allows you to return the focus to their business as soon as possible.

E.g. "I'd like to learn about your business and what your key challenges and goals are, and then if appropriate, to explain how we might be able to approach these issues. Then if we feel there are some opportunities for us both, we can agree on the next steps"

·   Use questioning to establish rapport, learn about their business, including key challenges, issues, concerns, and their objectives, or goals moving forward. 

In my next blog I'll give you some tips on what questions you should ask and  how to ask them. 

* UPB acronym and concept was originated by The Marketing Guild

OBJECTION HANDLING

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I only really use the term "Objection" within the initial stages of the sales process. Like many of the more modern consultative selling approaches, once the sale moves through to the presentation and negotiation stage I consider what would be traditionally thought of as an “objections” as “Concerns”. 

When you do come across objections don't panic, remember an objection is not necessarily a NO, it's generally a "Not Yet" (you have not sold me), or "I need more information" (I don't fully understand, appreciate or agree with the benefits). So take a step back and consider these five steps to help deal with and overcome objections. 

1. Listen

To handle any objection, you really need to understand the objection, so LISTEN to what the prospect is saying – resist the urge to jump in and respond until they are done, instead use active listening methods, including both verbal, and non verbal (when appropriate) encouragement to learn as much about their objection as possible.  

2. Clarify

Clarify your understanding of their objection though questioning. This not only allows you to get more information, it gives you a little more time to think about the appropriate response.

In the response listen for tone, observe body language (when appropriate), and consistency in the body of the objections. (If the objection is not what it appeared to be initially, the prospect may either not entirely understand what they are objecting to or may well be just trying to get rid of you – it’s important to know which it is, as they require different responses)

3. Think

Think about your response, even if it’s a common objection that you deal with regularly, think about how you can tailor your response to this specific situation and client.

4. Respond

Deliver your response to the client, (be wary of your tone, body language)

5. Check

Finally, check to ensure you have handled their objection.

This is also a good opportunity to delve deeper and ask if they have any other objections as it is better to deal with all of them now then find out later they had un-resolved objections.  

Planning the Ideal sales week

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I recently posted a blog about the power of allocating “Hour of powers” throughout your day to improve your effectiveness. Today I want to touch on how to plan your ideal sale week.

Firstly, why we plan. Selling is fundamentally a numbers game with a very basic principle behind the math:

 Greater the # of prospects in the pipeline = greater  # sales. 

This holds true for all levels of experience and expertise, the only thing that changes is your conversation rate, i.e. the better you get, the fewer clients your need to convert sales.  

Setting your ideal sales week essentially revolves around allocating dedicated time to focus on core functions in order to maximise selling time, and by scheduling your weekly work load around these key selling functions.

These core activities are:

1. Planning

2. Prospecting

3. Cold Calling

4. Building Proposals

5. Sales Presentations

6. Client Service

7. Forecasting

Always prioritize client facing work within key business trading times and admin tasks outside of key trading hours.

I know what you’re thinking, “Never going to happen, too many distractions etc. in the real world!”

I agree it’s extremely hard to actually execute this plan on a daily basis, BUT it’s still better to have a plan then not, and anything that helps you be more efficient, more often is a good thing.

 Example Week: