Greetings!

I love to hear your success stories and specific
techniques that work well for you. Here are some
responses from fellow readers from the past few
weeks.

__________________________________

Our previous Tip discussed how treating this week
and all of the Holidays as a "dead" time could
be a huge mistake.
http://www.businessbyphone.com/TelE-Sales12-18-09.htm

Here is a reply from Brian Garrity with SolidWorks.

With all the year-end budgets being emptied, there
is no better time to be calling. At our company, in a
market where new software technology is considered
to be in a flat or red state, in November and December
a couple of strategic promotions offering some creative
and realistic incentives along with a desire to win
drove our highest sales of the year, flogging the
competition. And I personally sold 15% over my goals.

December will be right up there, and I'm too busy
to reasonably write this message. I say with confidence t
hat this is a matter of attitude only-- pick up the phone,
crank up your self-expectations, and take advantage of
a great time to buy and sell--unless you prefer to be
broke after Christmas; I personally do not, and won't be.



________________________________

A few weeks ago the Tip was "What to Do With an
Immediate Brush Off."
http://businessbyphone.com/TelE-Sales12-2-09.htm

Brian Callaghan with Continental Web shared how
he immediately used it:

This article came at a great time for me because
I had just been given the Brush Off from a prospect
I'd been trying to see for a while. So, I decided to
send him an email. This is what I wrote:

Dear ____,

Sorry that I called you at a bad time on Monday.
My apologies. I was hoping to schedule a short
meeting on Wednesday morning to meet. Just 20
minutes is all. Although you seem to have a
good thing with Donnelley, don't you think it
would be useful to interview other printers?
If for no other reason than to confirm that
you have a good thing with Donnelley?

I've been in the printing business for a
number of years and when you reduce everything
down to the lowest common denominators there
are three:

1)quality,
2) service, and
3) price.

Of these three, two are absolutely essential:
quality and competitive price. Surprisingly many
print clients will endure poor-to-mediocre service
just to get quality and price.

Would you be interested in knowing more about a
company that can, and does, deliver all three all
of the time?

Some of Continental Web's largest clients include
Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Dillard's, Time Inc.,
Frontgate, and Zale's. And we've been doing much
of their printing for several years. There must be
a good reason...and I can tell you why.

Could we meet for 20 minutes on Wednesday morning?
I would appreciate it.

Regards,

Brian

I was delighted to get a reply the next morning.
The prospect had finally agreed to seeing me.
And when we met it was a very good meeting.

I think selling always requires a certain degree
of persistence. But applying persistence successfully
is, from my experience, a matter of timing and delivery.
And sometimes you just have to know when to walk away.

__________________________________

In response to the Tip from Jim Domanski on
"The Non-Annoying Way to Upsell,"
http://www.businessbyphone.com/TelE-Sales12-5-09.htm
Richard Sutherland wrote,

Art, I always learn from you. Thank you for that.
I'd like to give something back in return.

In an example in the Tip the salesperson says,

"Would you be interested?"

May I suggest a way that makes a positive response
even more likely?

How about,

"Would you look at some?" or,

"May I show you some"

It takes some reflective thought for one to wonder
if one is "interested" in something, whether scarves,
or a business opportunity, or buying a car. But,
looking at something doesn't require a commitment.

I've found it to be a much better approach. I have
basically eliminated the phrase, "Are you or would
you be interested in...?" from my language.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost
300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning
shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my
life and that is why I succeed."
Michael Jordan