Is it really WHO you know?

“I collected over two hundred business cards at the trade show!” the energetic young salesman proclaimed. “So what!” said his sales manager  …”I’ve probably collected twenty thousand business cards over the years, and they don’t mean squat unless you DO something with them.” http://bit.ly/cusoV9

“Efforting” one or two sales messages after meeting someone rarely produces more than a smile and a polite no thanks! And it is at this precise point that most small business and professional practice owners and managers (and altogether too many sales professionals) tend to simply give up and walk away.

This dig-in-your-heels moment is the very moment that sales are lost.

First off, since research shows that it takes an average of five attempts of some kind to close a sale in order to make a sale (and it’s not likely that a quick trade show card exchange includes an attempt to close a sale), the odds are pretty good that five more encounters are going to have to happen before agreement to buy something is reached (or dismissed).

Sound like a Poster?

Try “DETERMINATION NEEDED HERE“

…Or what about “PERSISTANCE PAYS!“? 

Though it represents only the first step in the networking process (especially at trade and professional shows or BBB or C of C -type gatherings), the value of business card collecting can be enormously enhanced by making a memory-jogging note on the back of EVERY card: “Big hair and gaudy glasses” or “Bone-crunch handshake/blue eyes” or “Plaid shirt/Yankees hat” or “Moonlights for cousin Bill.” 

Why should this matter? Because it always helps to have a mental image of someone you email or call or txtmsg or visit ahead of time. The note you make will often also remind you of the brief conversation you had, which often holds clues about the person’s purchase intentions, interests, and/or timeline. Remember: Five attempts to close a sale. http://bit.ly/bS99Wo

In direct mail, the axiom is that the more you tell, the more you sell.

In personal selling, the more you listen and learn about the customer, and about what the customer wants, the more you sell.

Let your website stand as the source for addressing prospective customer objections and product/service features, so you can be more focused on benefits and emotional buying motives.

The truth then, the answer to the “Is it really WHO you know?” question is: yes, WHO you know helps get your foot in the door, but –in the end– it’s what you do with who you know (and what you do with your foot as well — like keeping it out of your mouth?) that will make the difference between a sale and no sale! Isn’t every success based on how effectively you cultivate what you already have?

Networking is simply a tool for identifying and sorting out prospects in a concentrated setting or channel of connections. It’s a great tool if you’re willing to go the extra mile . . . and work to make it work! http://bit.ly/cmyg2Z 

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www.TWWsells.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!