By: Abby Garcia

Some sales professionals struggle with following up on people. The main reason is they are terribly scared of being rejected. They think they might annoy the clients with too many follow-ups. They don’t want to sound desperate, yet they’re tired of waiting for responses. Are you one of these people? Admittedly, I am one of these. If you can also relate to me, here are four simple tips from sales experts on how to follow up effectively – and seal that deal:

1) Be concise and precise with your follow-up.
I was guilty of breaking this rule. As a sales person, I felt the need to be very formal with my clients. Whenever I emailed them, I wrote lengthy messages just to subtly imply I needed their feedback. I used to beat around the bush too often, just to avoid offending them.

The difference between my former self and those who successfully close deals is they have the confidence to be casual and straightforward. They can even send just one short message to make a point, which goes something like, “Hey, how are you doing? Are you available for a call?”

2) Don’t be needy and emotional.
Afraid of sounding too desperate, I used to think twice before sending a follow-up message. “Is it too soon?” “Would he/she get annoyed?” “Are they not interested in the deal anymore?” Thoughts like these used to circulate my head, that I just forgot following up at all. I was discouraged. I discouraged myself – and I had regrets.

Little did I know that some of them were really waiting for my follow-up.

3) Avoid making the person you’re following up with feel guilty.
I might have also said something along the lines of, “If you cannot reply, please call me at…” or “Please reply asap…” Even if the matter is really urgent, this is a very big no-no. Reading back my previous messages similar to these ones, I realized that I would have gotten so pissed off if I were in their shoes. I might not have even replied. If you think you’re not making this mistake, read your follow-ups again and place yourself in their shoes. Do you think you’re not making them feel guilty?

4) Follow up more frequently at the start, and then gradually do it less.
Previously, I had a client who didn’t respond to any emails, calls, or texts for a month – true story. During the second week, I was advised to gradually lessen the follow-ups; two to three times a week, followed by once a week, and so on. I nearly gave up. After a month, I was able to contact him. He said he was very busy that time he couldn’t reply. But even after all those numerous follow-ups, he asked me to send him a proposal.
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The point is to continue following up, even if you think there’s no chance of him/her replying back. You may think this is irritating for your clients, but sometimes what you’re thinking isn’t necessarily right. Relieve yourself of all the unnecessary doubts, and just follow up!

Dozens of telephones ringing throughout the entire office. Countless voices seemingly speaking in unison with one another. All these are part of the norm in a typical sales department of a company. More often than not, salespeople will be talking with a lot of potential clients whom they are in conversation with for the very first time. As such, a mistake at this point in time can be quite costly. You will most likely not have a second chance from the get-go once you make a mistake.
 
Prospects or potential clients value whether or not you can help them and if what you are recommending to them are feasible and implementable in their own companies. Because of this, you as a salesperson must be prepared when calling these clients for the very first time.
 
14 Tips Before You Decide to Call a Client

1.) Know your prospect’s name
This might seem too obvious to make a mistake on but it can happen, especially when you have a high volume of prospects. It can be easy to mix up names when your calendar or notebook is cluttered with dozens of names to call on any particular day.    
             
2.) Know their job title
Along with their name, you must know their job title or what they do for their company. Instead of asking directly what they do, try to find out their company’s org structure to see how your client fits into the bigger picture.
 
3.) Be familiar with their company
You should know more than just your client’s company name. What type of business do they engage in? Who are the decision-makers in the company? How many customers and employees do they have? The thing to note here is that you won’t be able to find out everything but you must avoid asking clients about information that is easily accessible.
 
4.) Visit their social media pages
A client’s social media page can add vital information and put context in any conversation. At the minimum, try to find their LinkedIn profile as well as their Facebook and Twitter pages so that you can get a better grasp of how your client is as a person.
 
5.) Know your client’s career trajectory
It can be helpful to understand a client’s job history so you can find out if they have made similar purchases to your product or service in the past, their experience in the industry they are in, and how long they’ve been in the industry. All these can influence how readily your client can make the decision to purchase and how much you should educate the client on your products and services.
 
6.) Be updated with your client’s recent company announcements
Knowing their company’s historical financial performance as well as their plans at present and in the future will help you in convincing the client to purchase your product or service.
  
7.) See if you have common connections with the prospect
Going over your client’s network and finding common connections can help you in convincing that client to purchase. Whether it’s a former colleague, current customers, or even mutual friends, these people can help refer your product or service to the client. 
 
8.) Check a client’s previous interactions with your company
Make it a habit of checking your company’s system and records to see if a client has had a previous engagement with your company. Has the client looked at content about the company? Has he/she spoken with any salesperson from your company? Knowing all these can help put context to any conversation you might have with a client.
 
9.) Be aware of recent announcements by your client’s competitors
Your client would probably be thinking about their competition for the most part of their time. As such, familiarizing yourself with their competitors can help you build on an advantage that could put your client above the competition.
 
10.) Be familiar with conferences and forums your client has attended
Knowing which conferences and forums your client has been to can let you know how involved they are in the industry that they are in. Moreover, if you have been to the same conferences and forums, it will be easier for you to build a conversation based on these.
 
11.) Try and find out your client’s hobbies and interests
While these hobbies and interests shouldn’t take up the bulk of your conversation, having a shared hobby or interest can help put your client at ease and relax even if it’s your first time talking.
 
12.) Always remember what you talked about in a previous conversation
Once you have successfully engaged your client and are in constant contact, briefly refresh your memories of what you and the client have talked about in a previous conversation. That way, there will be continuity and it will be easier moving forward.
 
13.) Reiterate on how your call can help move the sales process forward
 Since you and your client are busy with work, each call is time spent for the both of you. As such, each moment is important and must not be wasted on idle chatter. There should be a clear objective for each call as well as a prepared next step to take.
 
14.) Set an agenda for the call
Setting an agenda for your calls is an important skill to have. Your clients know less than you do when it comes to your product or service so you need to be able to move the call forward without being overbearing or controlling. An agenda can help put a logical flow to the call which includes your client’s input.
 

​Jason is currently an Account Executive at Leadfunnel.ph. While he is new to blogging, he is well-versed in news writing and other forms of creative writing.

Curious? Want to know more? You can reach Jason at 0917-569-3371. 
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The difficulty of sales is what makes it challenging yet exciting all at the same time!

By: Abby Garcia

​Finding the best person for a sales job is very crucial, especially for startup companies. Since the firm’s still growing, a sales manager cannot risk hiring incompetent people to develop the business. If you have a hiring dilemma right now, these are a few tips on finding “The One” for your sales team:

1) Observe long enough before you judge.
A lot of people make the mistake of judging a person’s sales ability at the first interview. If you think you can assess a person right away, you’re wrong. Now you’re thinking, “How would I know if that person’s ‘The One’”? It’s very simple: Work with him long enough to judge him!

There are two criteria with which you can base your judgment: consistency and attitude. Initially, you may readily judge a new hire based on his performance at the first month. Coincidentally, this is also the time when he’s still enthusiastic about his job. After this phase, you’ll never know if he’ll still continue this enthusiasm for months. The point here is that if this person is consistent with his performance after three months, then he’s a keeper. Also, observe his attitude towards failure. If he cannot take rejections, sales is not for him.

2) Know that a perfect guide to hiring salespeople doesn’t exist.
Do you have a checklist of the things you search for in a salesperson? If you really want to find “The One”, throw that list away. Immediately. I’m not mocking you or your ability in sales hiring, but you should remember that these so-called indicators on whether a sales hire will be a great salesperson aren’t precisely correct.

Ask this simple question instead: “Do I want to buy from this person?” Even if the signs from above tell you that he’s a good salesperson but you don’t think of buying from him, don’t hire him.

3) Search from your own network first.
Look around you. Perhaps “The One” is just your college classmate, your next-door neighbor, or even your closest friend. Right now, he might be in a very different career path and probably doesn’t want a job in sales, but you have to realize his potential. Get a person who is both charismatic and can make things happen. You might have someone in your mind right now – then give him a shot! Train him. He might be a great asset to your sales team. You’ll never know, he may just be “The One”.

​By: Jason Dizon

The “Best” Among All the Rest
One of the questions often asked by recruiters to this day is that, “How do I know if I’ve hired the best person for the job?” After all, who wouldn’t want to hire the right person for the job to help the company reach its goals? This one question has gotten recruiters to rack up their brains to try and figure out just how to find ways of ensuring they get the best people out there.

Steli Efti from The Startup Chat has given his insights to shed some light on how to know if you’ve hired the best salespeople. “You don’t,” said Steli.  You’ll never know how good a person is from the get-go.  There may be some indicators that somebody might be good at sales but you’ll never truly know until you’ve worked with someone for a long time. You need to give the person the chance to show what he/she is capable of. In sales, consistency is important since salespeople need to be able to perform and deliver. Consistency is something that can only be measured through time which is why you can only truly know whether a person’s good enough after working with them.
 
Sales is a Performance-Based Activity 
“When I’m hiring a cook for one of my restaurants, and I want to see what they can do, I usually ask them to make me an omelette.” These are the words of Mr. Bobby Flay, a celebrity chef from America. What he said perfectly epitomizes how salespeople are meant to be assessed. You can try and ask a bunch of questions during the interview process but ultimately, you’ll have to see how people perform in their jobs to be able to give a proper assessment of their skills.
 
Sales is a performance-based activity not just because one requires the necessary skills for the job. A person also needs to possess the right mindset and attitude for sales. Salespeople need to be able to show up every day at work no matter how they feel, no matter how things are going on in their lives and perform to the best of their abilities. They need to be able to talk to people with much enthusiasm, energy and with enough clarity to properly negotiate with potential clients.
 
As my father used to say, “Salespeople take rejections for breakfast.” More often than not, salespeople will get their heart broken, get rejected, and watch helplessly as massive deals disappear like magic before their very own eyes. Amidst all this, salespeople need to be able to emotionally and psychologically deal with rejection and pick up the phone to call the next person.
 
The Ever-Famous “Sell Me This Pen” Interview Question
Some of you may remember this from the famous film, “The Wolf of Wall Street” starring Leonardo DiCaprio. He asked this question to his friends to see how they’d go about selling. This interview task is perhaps one of the most widely used ways of figuring out whether or not someone has the potential to be good in sales. In fact, Steli Efti always uses this whenever he would hire salespeople. The purpose of this task according to Steli is: to see how someone does the actual selling; to demonstrate one’s skillset; and to show their skill versus just talking about it.
 
However, it is important to note that even if someone does especially good in an interview, you must reserve your judgment on whether or not they’d be good at sales until you’ve worked together for at least three months, per Steli. This is because some people may only be good in the beginning since they are new and want to put their best foot forward. The most important thing to sales however is consistency. It is vital to let your people perform first and reserve judgment later. Only when you see that a person can do work every single day on a consistent basis, can you make the assessment that a person is a good salesperson.
 
How do I Find Potentially Great Salespeople?
Since you can’t possibly know if someone would be good at sales from the beginning, the question remains, “How do I find people who’d have the potential to be good at sales?” Before going into that, it is important to first classify salespeople based on how different they are. According to Steli, there are three classifications for salespeople:
     1. People that are great at selling  
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     2. People that are great at selling themselves as salespeople
​To differentiate between the first two, you simply have to bear this question in mind. “How easy is it for you to convince these people to join your team?” If someone is truly great at sales, they are making a lot of money. They have a lot of offers and are very much in demand. If somebody seems to be too easy to hire, then they’re probably not that good at sales.
 
However, hiring those with highly decorated sales backgrounds, come with a very big price tag. This fact makes hiring experienced sales people difficult. Furthermore, they will be very difficult to convince since they have dozens of offers lined up. This may seem like a problem to most because they want the best, but at what price?
 
The problem lies in the fact that we are limiting ourselves too much. We think that we need to look for someone who has a sales career today or who at least has a bit of experience in selling. This is kind of thinking isn’t necessarily always right. A ton of salespeople today are those with no prior sales background to begin with. What you should be looking for are those whom you think have the potential to be good at sales but would never consider a sales job or are currently in a totally different career path. After all, sales techniques specific to a company can be imparted or taught.
 
     3. Everybody else who are in sales but shouldn’t
The last kind of sales people are those who are neither great at selling nor great at selling themselves as salespeople. These types of people are easy to spot and know because they will not be very convincing. They give you that vibe that you wouldn’t want to buy from this person. 
 
The One Question You’ll Need to Find “The One”
After everything I’ve said, you probably still have a lot of questions going on in your mind. That’s fine because you’re virtually taking a bit of a risk here. You’re getting a person whom you can’t be 100% sure of his/her capability to perform consistently. However, all your questions can be answered if you get around to asking yourself this one simple question. “Would I want to buy from this person I am currently hiring?” This single question may seem simple at first, but it can work you wonders. This question can help you gauge how much you will be able to trust this person should he/she be selling to others.
 
If I can leave you with one takeaway from all this, it’s this. Don’t think about whether or not a person is good in sales. Neither should you think about how this person similarly epitomizes your idea of how a salesperson should look and walk like. Simply ask yourself, “Would I want to buy from this person?” Do that and you’ll be saving yourself a bit of the trouble of trying to find the best person out there.
 
 

Jason is currently an Account Executive at Leadfunnel.ph. While he is new to blogging, he is well-versed in news writing and other forms of creative writing.

Curious? Want to know more? You can reach Jason at 0917-569-3371. 
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The difficulty of sales is what makes it challenging yet exciting all at the same time!