Sunday, March 15, 2009

It's Time To Get Back To Your ABC's...

Always Be Connecting

Ok, you have read all of the articles and know the motivational quotes by heart. You stand in front of the mirror every morning repeating, “I am successful, I am successful!” You have commiserated with colleagues and had "soul searching" internal conversations. You know what you have to do to succeed in these turbulent times…you have to MARKET. You have to go back to basics. You have to get out there and meet with, talk to and call as many prospects as possible. You feel it. You tell yourself you must do something that you might not have needed to do for years or maybe never, but then you find yourself in a cold sweat. Can you even remember how? YES, it's as easy as your ABC's Always Be Connecting!

Remember a marketing or sales call is really a rapport-building call. You know what? One of the most efficient, affordable and environmentally friendly ways of increasing your sales is by cold calling. What I don't get is that somehow people would rather spend 10 hours a week at networking events instead of picking up the phone and reaching out to targeted prospects.

I don’t get this. You have to drive over to the event, sign in and pay (at $15-$20 a pop this becomes a pricey proposition at five networking events a week). Then you scan the room and read the nametags hoping to find someone in your target market that hasn’t met your competitor yet. You then try your best to make at least one or two solid connections. You get your stack of business cards and then back at the office you have to reach out to these people and guess what, build a relationship. That means you are picking up the phone anyway and you still need the same tools, techniques and systems in place to support this process.

I go to networking events and I think that they are a great way to support the growth of my profitable business. I am not saying to stop that form of marketing, but why not make even better use of your time? What if you could reach out to your target market and within an hour a day make lets say 20 calls? That’s 100 calls a week and of those 100 calls you only connected with 10%. And of those 10% only 10% became a new client. That is still one new client a week, which is 52 new clients a year. And that is only for 5 hours of work during the week. See my point? The odds are in your favor.

Come on, we know it is a numbers game, especially in this market. So, make the best use of your time. I love cold calling and when I tell people I teach cold calling they roll their eyes WAY back into their heads and then spit out, “I HATE cold calling”. I hear you. I used to feel the same way. I was terrified to pick up the phone, but now, I realize that it is an amazingly brilliant tool and used correctly can build million dollar businesses! Really, I have seen it work for me and for others. So, now I look at cold calling as something fun, an adventure and an expedition. I can teach you how to love it too! Really, I can.

In this market (or any market) what you need is to be open, creative, smart, effective and productive. I teach you how to be all of these things in business. If you want, email me and I can send you some information or we can talk about how cold calling is such an amazing tool. It is cheap, easy (once I am done with you it is) and GREEN! Come on! There is no better way out there to build business.

It’s time to go back to basics, your ABC's Always Be Connecting to increase your business in any market!

Email for more information: carolyn@essentialselling.com

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