Relationship Building Requires Constant Contact

***After you read this post, be sure to visit me at my new home here.***

Relationship building and networking does not end with the contract being signed or a handshake. The key to success with current and future clients is following up. The saying is true, "The gold is in the follow-up!"

Here are three ways to stay in touch and be remembered long after the initial encounter is over:

Send a handwritten note. The day after you meet a potential client, write them a note stating how much you enjoyed meeting him. Invite him to meet you for a breakfast or lunch so you can get to know each other better. When friendships form, business opportunities eventually develop. With your current clients, stay in touch with a note to say “hello,” “thanks for your recent business” or in my case, “Way to go!”

Make Every Call Count Part 2

***After you read this post, be sure to visit me at my new home here.***

In this series, I share tips for making every call you make count. You can't not make calls, and your excuses aren't cutting it because they simply aren't adding cash to your bottom line. 

Acknowledge the Person You are Calling. Personalize your conversation and develop rapport by taking a moment to acknowledge or appreciate something about the person you are speaking to. Say something like, "I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me." or "Thank you for being at the meeting last week." or "It was great to meet you the other week at the conference." Find something to say that is a genuine acknowledgment of the person you have called. This transforms a sales call into a conversation.

Read the Level of Rapport. You want to build rapport with the person you are speaking to as quickly as possible. Some people play "Relationship Geography," asking people questions to try and find a person they know in common. This is fine if the person is friendly, interested and has time to spare. Other people find this intrusive and frustrating because they are at work so they can be working. You have to be able to gauge the level of warmth, interest and enthusiasm of the person and match that level, plus just a bit more. If they seem stoic, be a bit warmer than stoic. If they are enthusiastic, be a bit more enthusiastic. If they are in a hurry, spit it out and get on your way quickly! You don't want your conversation to make anyone feel like this:

Make Every Call Count Part 1

***After you read this post, be sure to visit me at my new home here.***

In this series, I share tips for making every call you make count. You can't not make calls, and your excuses aren't cutting it because they simply aren't adding cash to your bottom line. 

There is one thing that stands out as an important differentiating factor between those who have average success and those who consistently soar. It is not enough to go on appointments, send out fancy packets, and pass your card around. You have to be willing to become masterful at using the phone. 

Use these 17 "quick tips" for making every call count, and you will be more masterful the next time you dial. Here are the first 5:

Put Yourself in a Peak State! Do not simply locate the number and begin to dial. Visualize the person picking up the phone, saying how glad he or she is to hear from you. Expect the call to be excellent!

Guest Blog: Are You Selling to Succeed? by Andrea Waltz

Chances are you are likely looking for ways to be more effective – in other words, to achieve a greater level of success.  And now I have a rather unique piece of advice for you: start failing more! 

Okay, let me explain.  

When starting out in sales, most of us are conditioned to go for “yes” not “no.”  However, the greatest success strategy is not to avoid ‘no’ it is to do something called, ‘Go for No!’

***After you read this post, be sure to visit me at my new home here.***

To a large degree, success in sales is a "numbers game."  So, the strategy is to increase your ‘failure rate’ – in other words, how many times people tell you ‘no’ for whatever product, service, or idea that you are selling.  Increasing your failure rate is to literally improve your "chances at success."  For any salesperson, the mere act of increasing the amount of product you show and services you offer increases both the yesses and no’s you will hear.

The perfect example is girl scouts selling cookies. The best, top producing scouts are the ones that talk to and ask the most people to buy cookies! Now in process of getting all those sales, they also ‘fail’ the most as well.

Now, you may be thinking, “okay that seems to make sense.”  However… getting all those "no’s" might have you feeling depressed and bad. But how do you start feeling good about hearing no more often?  The truth is that when you hear “no” you are taking action in your business and that is a very good thing! 

Most salespeople make 'yes' this incredible high with the 'no' at a depressing low. If the straightest distance between where you are now to where you want to be is a straight line then equalize out the emotional reaction to both yes and no. When you get a yes, you should say to yourself, "great" avoiding the fanfare. And when you get a "no" you should say, "Great - the next one may be a yes. But I know that the no's bring me the yeses, so I'll keep going."

That's the great thing about this strategy, because ultimately for this to work, you've got to get into action. You have to step outside your comfort zone and start hearing no's! When you start hearing no's and start thinking differently about no, realizing that you are on the right path, you'll feel more empowered than ever before.

Andrea's awesome book:

Andrea Waltz is the co-author of “Go for No!", a short powerful story written specifically for sales professionals in every industry who must learn to harness the power of no to be successful.   To learn more, visit http://www.goforno.com

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