16 Situations When You Should Send a Handwritten Card

If you have been selling more than a few years I suspect that you have read, or heard someone say, that you should be sending handwritten thank-you cards or notes to people on a regular basis. This practise seems to be going the way of the dodo bird and very few sales people take the time to incorporate it into their daily or weekly routine. Here are 16 circumstances or situations when it makes sense to send a handwritten note … Continue reading →

Sales Prospecting: Are You Even Focused?

Prospecting for sales is hard enough, but it’s made even harder when the strategy being used is either based on hope — or worse yet something like spraying and praying. I talk a lot about the need to have a very clear sales prospecting process. Just as important the need to be focused in following it. Too many salespeople at the first sign of something not going right get scared and change direction. No wonder so many salespeople cave to … Continue reading →

Is It Ever A Good Time? – Sales eXchange – 149

One common objection sales people face when making prospecting calls, is when the potentially prospect says “now is not the right time”. While timing is important, and understanding how specific triggers can help improve your timing, the fact remains that perfecting your timing will only help you in a very (very very) small way, in a very narrow part of you potential prospect segment. Here is why. Timing is only important with two buyer groups, Passive, those who have realized … Continue reading →

Prospecting Emails that Suck

It happened earlier again today. Among the hundreds of emails I receive each day — both solicited and unsolicited — came what I’ll call the “stupid email of the day.” If you’re going to prospect via email, don’t go putting out an email that says “just checking in.” Come on, get real and quit being stupid, thinking something like this is going to catch anyone’s attention. “Just checking in” is not the way you address any email to someone you … Continue reading →

Voicemail as a Prospecting Tool

Let’s not kid ourselves. The vast majority of phone calls go to voicemail. Because of this reality, if you intend to use the telephone to develop sales prospects, then you have to be able to use voicemail effectively. The biggest mistake people make when leaving a voicemail message as part of their prospecting strategy is they leave a message that has zero value to the person receiving it. The prospect doesn’t want to know how wonderful you are and a … Continue reading →

Mailbag: Know Your Numbers!

From Melissa J: Butch I really enjoy reading your weblog. Your articles and comments always make me think. I would like to know other than my closing ratio, what other aspects of my sales should I keep up with? Thx! Melissa: Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad you enjoy the blog—I really enjoy writing it and getting emails like yours keep me inspired. Ok, to your question: I don’t know what you sell, so I’m not sure if you … Continue reading →

The Drawbacks of Social Networking

About a year ago, I made the decision to become an open networker on LinkedIn after a fellow sales trainer and sales keynote speaker told me that it helped him connect with dozens of decision makers. I registered for a service that added my name and LinkedIn profile to a database and within hours dozens of people were reaching out to connect. Woo hoo! A few months later I had added more than 1000 people to my contact list. Flash … Continue reading →

Your Attitude Drives Your Sales Prospecting Results

It’s time for me to once again talk about the importance of you attitude. Sales prospecting can be very difficult, but why make it any harder on yourself by having a bad attitude? Too many salespeople fail to realize how much they’re destroying their sales prospecting results due to their attitude. It starts by not letting stuff you can’t control to control you. There will always be people who will reject your phone calls or make quick off-the-cuff statements about … Continue reading →

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