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How to Sell Sports Tickets In The Face of a Player Work Stoppage

Bill Guertin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:32:24 +0000

It’s keeping team owners and sales VP’s up at night – and everyone else that’s involved in professional sports. Facedwith the threat of a potential labor strike, those who are in sports ticket sales are being asked to continue to stay the course and call their prospect lists. While managers are saying “Business As Usual”, there are big challenges in making sure that the revenue stream from the sales department continues to be “Sales As Usual”.

How can sales reps approach this objection in the best possible way? Here are a few suggestions:

For renewals – Focus on the risk of losing their place in line. Season ticket holders have earned their spot in the stadium, based on the many years they’ve been a ‘member of the club’. Let them know what a shame it would be to lose all the seniority they’ve built up over the years, and to have to start from scratch with a seat location that won’t be nearly as good when they return.

Ask them if they’ve come to know the other people in their seating section. The relationships that are built as a STH can be very strong, and many people look forward to the company of those around them as much as any other part of being a seatholder. In your renewal conversations, bring up what a disappointment it would be for them to miss out on seeing those friends you’ve come to know at the games over the years. The labor situation will eventually work its way out, and when it does, you’ll be able to pick up those relationships right where they left off.

If it’s a corporate client, ask them to consider how many people have benefitted from the tickets you’ve had in the past. As competitive as the business landscape is today, relationships will continue to be a key driver of decisions being made into the future. How many relationships have they strengthened as a result of the seats they own? What opportunities might they lose if these seats aren’t there in the future? When the players and owners finally agree, they’ll want to continue to take advantage of those benefits going forward.

For new buyers – Focus on the unusual opportunity the situation represents. Just like in real estate, it’s those who see an opportunity when others are looking away that can yield the most return. In this case, it’s the seat locations that may be available based on the negative publicity that could be that diamond in the rough. If for whatever reason the teams don’t come to terms in time, let them know what your plans are to issue a full refund. It’s a guarantee that no one in real estate is making!

Point out that you’ll be locking in a price that may not be there once the agreement between owners and players is reached. The potential is always there for teams to adjust their pricing, depending on the way the CBA works out. By buying now, you’ll be guaranteeing their price for seats, and regardless what happens with the CBA, their price will be set because they took advantage of the opportunity they have with you today.

(NOTE: My regular Sports Ticket Sales Newsletter always gives several answers to some of the toughest objections in ticket sales in each issue; subscribe for free here.)

Whoever you’re calling, it’s important NOT to offer your personal opinions on either side of the negotiating table. Remember that even though you may not feel like an important cog in the big wheel of the team, you are a bona fide representative of the organization, and your ‘opinion’ may be attributed to the whole company in certain circumstances. Using “I hear you”, “I understand how you feel”, or “I can certainly see where you’re coming from” shows that you’re objectively absorbing what’s being said by the prospect without reinforcing it with your own opinion.

Customers will continue to use the labor issue as an objection not to buy. As professional sales reps, our job is to continually help our prospects focus on the things that the media doesn’t talk about that are direct benefits of being a seatholder – the memories, the experiences, the business potential, and all the things that happen to people as a result of being at the games. Whatever the outcome of the labor situation, the bottom line is that it’s a temporary situation, and chances are things will get worked out and the games will go on. If the games aren’t played for whatever reason, their money will be refunded, so it’s actually riskier for the seatholder NOT to buy today!

Don’t back down easily, help your prospects focus on the potential good of a decision to buy, and ask for the business. Now more than ever, those basics should be in play on every difficult conversation.

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About Bill Guertin

Bill Guertin is CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) of The 800-Pound Gorilla, a dynamic sales training and consulting company whose list of blue-chip clients includes the ticket sales departments of dozens of teams from the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer. He is the author of the Gold Medal-award-winning book Reality Sells, and The 800-Pound Gorilla of Sales: How to Dominate Your Market. Subscribe to his Sports Ticket Sales Newsletter at www.The800PoundGorilla.com, or follow Bill on Twitter at www.twitter.com/800poundgorilla.

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Are You Victimizing Your Seatholders?

Bill Guertin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:00:14 +0000

Who wants to make more money in sports ticket sales? (OK… you can all put your hands down.)

And…who is willing to shame or embarrass their team’s clients in order to get there? (Keep those hands down! Shame on you in the back row!)

Upselling current seatholders can be a major contributor to any team’s bottom-line growth. But if your approach sounds like you’re only trying to fatten your commission check, chances are you’re coming off like a real jerk.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article from a woman that felt “victimized” by her sommelier (wine expert) while dining with a friend at a fine restaurant in a major city. The restaurant was well-known for its wine and food, and the author found a 2008 Foillard Cote du Py Morgan on the wine list, which she felt would match what she and her friend had ordered. At $68, she also thought it was a good buy, and let the sommelier know her choice as he approached their table.

The sommelier, hearing what she had chosen, responded by saying, “Are you fixed on that particular bottle?” She replied that she’d be open to hearing his thoughts. He flipped the list back a few pages to reveal a few wines that he like to offer “special” people, and pointed to a 1993 Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron, Les Vignottes, for $160. She knew the producer and the year – it was quite good – but it was also $100 more than what she had originally chosen.

“I – I don’t think I’m really THAT special,” she stammered. But in the process, she felt ambushed. She had been made to look like a tightwad in front of her friend. She wound up choosing the $68 wine, but felt like the almost-victim of a $100 upsell.

When she shared her story with friends and a few wine professionals, she was surprised to hear that many have had similar experiences at other restaurants. One friend from San Francisco had recounted that their sommelier had used that same word – “something really special” – after both she and her husband had each had a glass of wine during dinner. The “special” wine turned out to be $25 a glass, which was twice what the first had cost. “And it wasn’t even that good,” she added.

When another friend had asked his sommelier for suggestions between two $40 bottles, he countered with an $80 selection. Other stories were of those who were looking to spend $80 to $100, but were pushed into considering $180 to $200 bottles. “Clearly the guy didn’t care about us,” the author’s friend spouted. “He just wanted to get the check average up.”

How do you avoid being labeled a “victimizer” in sports ticket sales, yet still allow for the potential for growth from your current customers? Here are the right ways to go about it:

Listen to what they enjoy or don’t enjoy about their current experience, and use that as the reason for your suggestions.

If your customer brings clients out regularly, and raves about his ability to get one-on-one with them, you might suggest a suite, where he can enjoy a wider range of hospitality options and even a bit of privacy if they’d like to talk business. If she comments negatively on the strong angle of the sun where she’s sitting, it’s a great time to suggest places in the park that would improve her experience. By simply suggesting an upsell without a reason behind it, you risk coming off like our sommelier example.
Ask questions that reveal opportunities for your options, rather than suggesting upsells out of the blue.

Let’s say you have a loaded ticket option for F&B. It’s better to ask your Season Ticket holder a question like, “Do you ever give these seats to clients to use on their own?” A positive response opens the door to an add-on with a very tangible benefit relative to how they’ll be using their seats. Know your products and the options that add value to those seats, and then be ready with a good list of questions that lead you to the answers you need to suggest your upsell options.
Don’t sell what YOU need to get rid of; sell the outcomes that your customers want and need.

Simply because you have excess inventory in the corners doesn’t mean that the corners are “exactly” what every customer needs. Listen, take in what they say, and consider the customer’s entire experience before suggesting the section of the arena that management is pushing this week.

Is it wrong for a restaurant to try to improve their per-check average? Not at all. But if the sommelier had only gone about it in the right way by asking a few more questions prior to suggesting an upgrade, he might have been more successful.

And now it’s your turn.

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The Cure for “Salesheimer’s Disease”

Bill Guertin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:00:20 +0000

Have you ever been ‘frozen’ in a ticket sales conversation?

We all get that sinking feeling every once in a while. You’ve either lost your place in the conversation, got distracted, or reached a verbal dead end. It’s been called “Salesheimer’s Disease”; your brain goes numb, and it feels like there’s nothing left to say that would make any sense.

What do you say when you don’t know what to say?

Fortunately, there are a few phrases you can get to know and memorize that can get you out of sticky situations like these, and save the call in the process. Have these responses handy next to your phone, just in case you may need them:

“Tell me more about (the last thing you were just talking about).”

Ask your prospect to GO BACK to a previous, recent place in the conversation. It could be their kids, their past experience at the arena, the new draft pick you just got, their group, or anything else that was just previously being discussed. Whatever it was, ask them to elaborate; they’ll talk for several seconds, which will allow you to regain your composure.

“How did you get started in (the work you do)?”

Same principle here; this question shifts the mental focus of the conversation onto the prospect, allowing you the precious time you need. Remember to keep listening during this “rebooting” time; they may be telling you something that’s critical to discovering which of your team’s programs would be perfect for them!

“I’m so sorry… I was distracted here in my office. What was that you were saying again?”

Most people understand office distractions. It’s happened to them, and it’s really OK to come out and tell your prospect what may be happening behind the phone call. Some prospects actually enjoy that kind of up-front admittance, and as a result will become more forthcoming with the information you need to sell them. (Go figure!)

“What’s the biggest challenge that’s on your desk right now?”

This may seem like an odd question to ask. It’s not one that people hear often. But it’s one that gets a B-to-B prospect thinking in a way they hadn’t been thinking before.

Most decision-makers have at least one or two critical challenges literally in a file on their desk at that moment; an employee HR issue, a proposal that needs to get out, a brochure from the competition that just came in the mail with an offer that needs to be addressed. If our product is going to solve a problem for our prospects, we need to find a problem to solve, or else there’s no sale.

If you get a legitimate answer to this question, be prepared with solid suggestions as to how a solution including your team can help. (If you’re stuck for what solutions your team offers, this subject is covered in detail in my Sales Dominance training program for sports ticket sales reps.)

Salesheimer’s Disease isn’t fatal. It’s happened to everyone in the business, and it becomes less and less prevalent with experience and knowledge. The good news is that there’s a cure; the antidote for all professional sales reps, no matter what the industry, is to be fully prepared.

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Bill Guertin has spent over 25 years in becoming one of the most dominant sales professionals. He serves on the board of advisors for the newly launched Sports Executives Association (SEA). Learn more about Bill and check out his ultimate sports ticket sales mind set when you join the SEA today.

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How to Use a Pen to Sell On the Telephone

Bill Guertin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:00:26 +0000

With cell phones, call forwarding, and the death of the land-line in the home, most often we have no idea where our prospects might be when we’re calling them about our sports ticket opportunities. They could be in the car, the supermarket, out on a date, or anywhere else you could imagine.

Wherever your prospect happens to be, chances are they’re near a piece of paper and a writing instrument of some kind. It’s your chance to engage them in your conversation – IF you’re good enough with using information that can lead to a sale.

While you have someone engaged on the phone, try this: ask them if they’re near a pen and paper, and ask them to write down a few things you’re going to dictate to them. This subconsciously gets them to begin thinking creatively and positively in your direction, because they’re writing down something about you, keeping an informal “record” of your conversation, and they have a pen in their hand… which is a close cousin to signing a deal. (Many people also think better when they have a pen in hand and are writing!)

Here’s how this might flow in an actual sales conversation:

“Do you happen to have a pen and a piece of paper in front of you? Why don’t you grab it for a moment, because I’d like to share some numbers with you.”

“What would be an average amount of money you might spend to go out to eat with your family? OK… write that down.”

“OK… how about a movie? What would that cost for your family to go to a movie together? Write that down too.”

“Is there anything else you often do together with the family? Attend Little League games, go bowling, anything like that? Often, that also involves going out to eat, too, doesn’t it? OK… put that down too, and what it might cost you on average each time you go.”

“OK… so how many times would you say you might do those things over the course of, say, six months? Put that down next to each one… now let’s add that up, and see what we come up with.” (Get a number from them)

“Very good. So, let’s take that big number, and put it alongside the amount we’re talking about here for these tickets… which is $_____. Understand, now, that some of that big number will be absorbed into the season tickets, now that you’ll be spending time there instead of these other places… so what we’re really doing is replacing or re-distributing the way you and your family spend your recreation dollars rather than increasing them.”

“When you look at it in black and white, the extra expense really doesn’t seem to be that much, does it?”

This is just one scenario. Business-to-business prospects can also enter into “pen-and-paper” conversations about things like:

Their top 3 clients, and how much revenue they bring to the bottom line (compared to the investment your tickets would be in keeping that revenue coming in)

How much their current sales contest prizes are costing

The number of salespeople they have, and how often each of them gets a chance to spend quality time with their clients

Their current employee incentive programs, and how much is budgeted vs. their turnover rate, etc.

Email me with PEN AND PAPER in the subject line, and I’ll share a few other potential scenarios with you.

You can turn any telephone presentation into a multi-media sales opportunity by turning your client on to the high-tech world of pen and paper as a means of engaging them more fully. Try it and see!

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Budgets are for Cowards! How to Fight Back

Bill Guertin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:30:42 +0000

Every account executive in sports sales would be rich if they had a nickel for every time they’ve heard “It’s Not In The Budget” this year. It’s the all-purpose excuse for the new normal. After all, it’s an easy out for the prospect; how can any rep argue with a budget that they can’t see?

As a group of sales professionals, our success against a stingy budget boils down to two things:

A rock-solid understanding of the value of our product to our clients, and;
An iron will to continue to sell through their initial resistance.

Most everyone that has the power to write a check is nervous about the pressure they’re getting from all sides. Spending money in the “wrong” way has been the kiss of death for many executives, and no one wants to be the next victim.

Regardless of how nervous our prospects are, the reality is that whether or not their budget is gone, the need for your product’s solution may still be there. Your challenge – and your opportunity – is to discover what your buyer’s greatest challenges are, find out what those problems are costing them, and lay out how an investment with you can improve their situation.

Bottom line: Don’t take the objection at face value!

When you hear, “Sorry, it’s not in the budget this year,” here are a few of the kinds of responses I recommend:

#1: “We hear the ‘B’ Word a lot! Let me ask you: even though your budget is gone, is the need for (motivating your salespeople/entertaining your best clients/employee appreciation) still there? With all due respect for your budget, what are the consequences of choosing NOT to invest in that in 2010?” Discuss the negatives of doing nothing, what they will cost, and the relative good that can come from being a part of your team for 2010.

#2: “Staying within budget is always a challenge. What would you say your biggest business challenge is this year?” This kind of discussion gets your prospects thinking in terms of issues and the need to resolve them, and you’ll have the chance to connect your product with these kinds of solutions.

#3: “I understand. If budget wasn’t an issue – if the seats I had were FREE – what would you do with them? How would you use them to build your business?” Remove the budget issue completely, and allow your prospect to dream about how your product would be used if given access. Many prospects actually enjoy this activity, and their answers will give you valuable insight into their potential intentions.

If these don’t sound like you would say them, change the words around until they sound and feel right. As long as you keep the intent intact, you should be fine.

There are more reasons than ever for people to say “No” to our offers. What’s important to remember is that there are just as many reasons to say “Yes” – if we’re well-prepared to overcome today’s objections with compelling reasons for our prospects to reconsider their answer.

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Fire All the Salespeople

Bill Guertin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:10:34 +0000

There is a common problem I see brewing in sports ticket sales organizations across the nation. It started about 18 months ago, and has been spreading like a virus, bleeding organizations dry. I’m not sure where it started, but I know how it can be stopped.

Here’s the problem: We’re allowing the economy to lull our leadership into expecting less from the salespeople who are paid to make things happen. Our managers are taking the “economy” excuse and letting our sales reps use it as a crutch, and it’s weakening everyone in the process.

If you’re an account rep, I have a few telling questions for you:

Did you achieve your monthly goals for either January or February? If not, what happened?

How about the number of sales calls that are expected of you each month? Did you reach the mark that was set for your performance, or did you fall short?

Can you say that you truly did all you could to achieve those goals? Or did you decide that you need to hang it up early on several of those days to get a break from the constant negativity of being turned down? Perhaps more importantly, what were the repercussions of you missing one or more of those marks?

This is a B-I-G problem, and it’s not the fault of just one person. It’s the responsibility of everyone involved to motivate a sales team to work as a well-oiled machine.

If you’re missing your sales targets by a wide margin your supervisor is now being forced to consider drastic measures to improve. Nobody in management wants to do anything rash, but they would probably let go an entire staff if they knew it would benefit the organization. They would fire everyone in a heartbeat and start over with a new team of hungry reps, eager to show their new boss how grateful they are to work on your former team.

Why? Here are just a few of the reasons:

There are a slew of qualified, available salespeople out of work right now. From real estate and banking to the insurance, retail, and automotive industries, some of the very best sales reps in your area have been let go, and are highly motivated to excel in their work. Most are starving for someone to take them in, even if it means a pay cut.

It can be mentally easier for your manager to bring in a new staff than to re-train those who aren’t producing. By starting with a clean slate, a manager can be a hero with their bosses by showing that something’s being done to improve their current situation.

It’s a fresh start for your manager. The situation is partly his/her fault, too. If a supervisor hasn’t developed a standard practice of regularly monitoring, coaching, and developing expected levels of minimum performance for their current underperforming staff, it’s their chance to start over.

How can you insulate yourself? Start today:

Maintain an open dialogue with your manager. Don’t just seek your manager out when there’s a problem. Discuss your questions, your successes, and your challenges with him or her regularly. Make sure you know how you’re being evaluated in your position, and where you stand on his or her scorecard.

Decide that no one else but you is in charge of your own success. It’s not the list, the phone system, the computer, the team, or anyone’s fault but your own if you don’t learn your craft, read about selling on your own time, practice on your own, and make the calls.

Become the best in your organization at what management values most. Every organization is different, and values certain kinds of activities, sales, and benchmarks differently. Make sure you know what your manager is measuring, and be the #1 person in your office to deliver that.

Ownership has millions of dollars riding on the success or failure of the sales effort. That’s you. They’ve trusted the team’s leadership to get the job done — through you. Even in this economy, there are plenty of salespeople just like you in every corner of the nation that are meeting and exceeding their targets, so there’s no saying it can’t be done.

There is no such thing as job security. Unless, of course, you take the time to secure it yourself.

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Tips on Apologizing for Salespeople

Bill Guertin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:10:52 +0000

Tiger Woods delivering his 13-minute speech was finally what hundreds of millions of people were waiting to hear. “I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you,” said Woods. “I have made you question who I am and how I could have done all the things I did. I am embarrassed I have put you in this position. For all that I have done, I am deeply sorry. I have a lot to atone for.”

Tiger screwed up, and he finally was doing what anyone who screws up badly should do; take ownership for your mistakes, and let people know what you plan to do to fix them.

As responsible salespeople, we can learn from Tiger’s example. On occasion, we’re going to screw up an order, type in a wrong seat number, forget some paperwork, or fail to follow up with a phone call we promised to make. Rather than run and hide, the sooner we can recognize our mess-up, the better off everyone will be.

- Be honest with your clients, no matter what. It’s hard enough to try to remember what your ‘story’ was for each person you sell, so make it easy on yourself: Tell the Truth. It really does set you free.

- If you make a mistake, do your best to make it right immediately. The longer a problem festers, the larger the problem will be in the mind of the customer. During a recent 5-day cruise I took with my family out of Miami, the cruise company kept hundreds of us outside on the pavement adjacent to the boarding area for several hours, without telling us why we couldn’t board the ship. I was furious, and it was two days before we had anyone from customer service address the issue with us. I had a chip on my shoulder during the entire cruise, and even though everything else was great, I still have a negative vibe about that cruise line.

- Find out what the client would prefer to do to make it right. Sometimes your solution isn’t the one that your client would prefer. In the radio advertising business, on occasion we’d run the wrong commercial on the air for a client. When we discovered the error, our responsibility would be to call the client to let them know, and to try to make amends. We learned over time that if we asked our clients, ‘What do you think is fair as compensation for this mistake?’, we had much happier clients than if we tried to figure out what would be fair on our own. Learn what would make the client feel special, and if you can say yes, then do it right away.

- Take ownership of the mistake. Don’t blame any other departments or air your team’s dirty laundry to others. Pointing fingers serves no purpose, and only makes the team look worse – and those are the kinds of negative word-of-mouth stories that travel fastest.

- Don’t make yourself a hero at the expense of others around you. There is no victory in being number one in sales in your office if you also hold the title of Public Enemy number one to your service staff for having to clean up after you time after time. Promise only what you can personally deliver, and partner with others in your organization to help with the rest.

If you do things right the first time, you’ll have very little to apologize for and you can be a hero to your clients and your co-workers far more often.

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Get Out of a Sports Ticket Sales Slump

Bill Guertin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:23:06 +0000

So you’re not having the kind of success you’d like. Your calls are more difficult, you’re not closing as many sales as you’d planned, your manager is supportive but insists on results. Your check isn’t enough to do the things you want to do.

This sports thing wasn’t what you thought it would be. This is way too stressful. Where’s all that fun and excitement you thought would be coming your way? This is more like…a JOB!

If you’re feeling this way, here are several things to consider:

Look at how you’re spending your time each day. Do you talk a lot with your co-workers about how bad things are? It’s a natural thing to do, but it’s not doing anything to move you forward. In fact, psychologists say that peer group reinforcement of a particular negative belief can actually hold you back. Is it worth feeling good for a few moments just to stay where you are?

Look at the number of calls you’re making. An obvious measure of your effort is your call volume, but some reps choose to make fewer calls in a slump. They put them off, thinking it’ll be better to call them at a later time, an earlier time, etc. FACT: The more calls you don’t make today, the fewer sales and appointments you’ll make today. It’s that simple.

Look at the way you’re conducting your calls. How are you opening your conversations? Is it the best it could be, or are you just going through the motions? If you’re frustrated, desperate, or robotic, your prospect will pick up on it. Freshen up your opening so that you’ll deliver it with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and sincerity.

Look at the way you’re prepared to answer objections. What are the top 3-4 objections you’re faced with each day? Are you prepared to answer them with clarity and logic? The best reps mentally prepare to answer each of their prospects’ most common objections, followed by a closing question.

Look at the way you’re leaving voice mails. More than 70% of your calls are directed to a voice mail system of some kind. Do your voice mails sound interesting, compelling, and time-sensitive? Are they too long, too predictable, or just plain boring to listen to? Spend a few moments preparing a voice mail that gives people a compelling, intriguing reason to call you back.

Look at the time you spend in-between appointments. Many new reps will schedule appointments in the northern part of the city at 10:00, and another in the south at 11:30. That’s unrealistic. Think about the time you’ll spend getting from one appointment to another, and schedule them accordingly. Make your Tuesday appointments in one section of town, and your Wednesdays in another. It isn’t always possible, but if you don’t ask your prospect if they’re more flexible, you may be stressing yourself out needlessly, and saving yourself precious hours in non-selling commuting time.

Look inside. Can you be honest with yourself? What you signed up for is a SALES job. All sales reps are experiencing challenging times, so you’re not alone. Sales professionals have several choices when faced with a challenge; they can keep doing what they’re doing, change what they’re doing to be more successful, or look elsewhere for something that suits them better. Decide which course of action you’ll take.

There are people who want what you sell. If you choose to improve on at least one or two of the points above, you will see a change in your results. Now get on the phone and start selling!

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How to Get More Callbacks from Prospects

Bill Guertin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:10:25 +0000

When someone has decided to call us back before making a buying decision, there’s a good chance (despite all their good intentions) they won’t follow through. It doesn’t make them liars or bad people. It’s just the law of averages. We know people get busy and have other priorities come up in their lives.

Are you kidding? Something else is more important than getting back to you about their awesome seats? C’mon! You don’t have to take that crap! Push the odds in your favor!

The next time someone tells you, “I’ll have to call you back,” try one of these responses:

- “Sure, we can do that. Do you have your BlackBerry with you? Let’s go ahead and both put a callback day and time into our calendars, so we’ll have a time frame to work with. We don’t want to let it go for too long!”

- “Great! Should I work with your assistant to set up a day and time, or do you keep your own calendar?”

- “OK. Let’s pick a day and time, and I’ll send you an E-mail reminder, just to keep us both on track. What E-mail should I use?”

Another option is to attempt to sew up the deal right then and there, eliminating the need for a callback at all:

- “If you need to run this past someone, I don’t have a problem getting someone else on a three-way call. Do you happen to know where they are right now?”

- “Here’s the thing. The problem is I can’t guarantee that these seats we’re looking at right now will be available once I let them go. Is there any way we could put a small deposit on them? If for some reason these seats aren’t what you’re looking for, we can just transfer your deposit to another location. Does that work for you?”

- Does your partner usually trust your judgment? OK… then why don’t we just lock in these seats right now while we can, and I’ll be glad to help you go over the details with your partner later?”

Want more suggestions on how to generate a higher percentage of callbacks? Just e-mail me with the subject word CALLBACKS, and I’ll send you another hot idea on how to help move your phone number straight to the top of your prospects’ “To Do” list.

We have enough to do and can’t worry about people getting back to us. Take control, people! Help make it easy for others respond to you, and you’ll be taking callbacks left and right… and cashing a few more checks in the process.

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Welcome Back…Now Get Selling!

Bill Guertin — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:52:43 +0000

The holidays have passed us by, it’s 2010, and for those of us who hibernated for several days, it means it’s time to get back to work. Over the years I’ve seen an inordinate number of people give me excuses why it’s not the “right time” to sell someone right after the holidays:

“Everyone’s hung over.”
“People are hitting the ground running, and they’re too busy to talk to me.”
“Their budgets have just been set for the year, and there’s no money for me.”
“People have more important things to do, and I’m the last person they want to talk to right now.”

You can come up with a hundred excuses for every day of the year about why it’s not ‘the right time’ to sell. (In fact, my friend Lee Salz has a hilarious list of sales excuses for each month. If you’d like a copy, just e-mail me and put the word “EXCUSES” in the subject line. I’ll be glad to share it).

Here’s the reality: For everyone that isn’t quite ready to buy today, there are plenty of others who are ready to say “yes” to you. That’s right; TODAY. Now. This moment. Your job as a professional sales rep is to find them.

That’s what sales is. It’s not excuses about the lousy conditions, the time of year, the time of day, the weather, or any number of things that others use to justify their decision not to call someone today.

While there might be ‘better’ days to reach a majority of prospects than others, every day represents an opportunity to sell someone on the benefits of your team’s product. Right now, someone needs to hear about the relationship-building, the fellowship, the family time, the motivation, and all the other benefits your team brings to young and old.

Even on a day like today.

The holidays are over. It’s time to get back to work. Put a spring in your voice, an extra measure of enthusiasm in your presentation, and make 2010 your best year ever.

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Image by Ed Coyle Photography

About Bill Guertin

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