Please join me. I am begging you to join me. For all you business professionals that have suffered the dreaded voicemail message where one or all of the following have happened:

No name on the message
Incomplete or partial phone numbers
Impossible-to-understand messages
No company name

Or

Ready for the real nightmare? The person who says his/her name so fast that you don’t have a clue and leaves their return number even FASTER! You replay the message multiple times, ask coworkers to listen, switch ears because maybe you think your hearing is going. No matter what you do, it doesn’t work. And you feel your blood pressure rising (maybe not you, but I sure do.)

People, please slow down. Repeat your number slowly. Pretend to be writing it down as you say it. Please repeat your name and number TWICE!

My name is ____. My phone number is ___. Repeat

Here is my personal mission. I promise to leave clean, clear voicemail messages. I vow to repeat my name and phone number twice. And every time I receive a PROFESSIONAL voicemail where I can identify the caller and the return phone number on the first attempt, I will thank them for their professionalism.

My goal is to spread the gospel of the professional voicemail message and make the world better for all mankind!

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In Florida, Wal-Mart now sells cheap generic prescription drugs. For $4.00, you can buy a month’s supply of your medicine (as long as its one of the 314 they sell at that price). That has caused mom-and-pop drug stores all over the country to cower in fear. Understandably, so. After all, Wal-Mart has been shutting down stores in communities everywhere for years. This recent move on prescription prices has caused the National Community Pharmacists Association to try to help their members compete against Wal-Mart’s prices. The pharmacists are facing the same problems that hardware stores, toy stores and other stores have faced for years. It’s one I’m sure you face, too…Differentiating your offering in the minds of prospects and customers.

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Learn how to turn anger from an enemy to an ally.

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This and other podcasts are available to download at itunes to help your selling career. If you have never used itunes and need help to download and install it click here for a tutorial.

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Objections are nothing more than a sign that a salesperson is showing the wrong thing in the wrong way. What it means is that the prospect is simply saying, “Stop, I’ve heard enough!” Wouldn’t it make more sense to determine precisely what the prospect wants, the conditions under which they will pay to get it, the time frame in which they will buy it, how much they are willing to pay for it and the process by which they will buy it before presenting it? And then show your product in precisely that way?

The real truth is that great sellers deal with far fewer objections than average or poor ones do. The reasons for that are that they are confident, have positioned themselves well, do intensive pre-call planning, develop strong internal advocacy, build trust, ask the right questions, propose the right solutions, solicit feedback and create value. The result? Very few, if any objections ever arise.
A misguided corollary to this myth is the mistaken 20th century belief that objections are a sign of interest. The failed theory behind this myth is that the salesperson is moving closer to the sale and that through a series of rehearsed maneuvers will be able to handle each objection, squash each one verbally and then move on to make the sale.

The truth is that in the 21st century, poorer salespeople get most of the objections. The reason is that the great salespeople carefully uncover each issue through careful research, accurate questioning and a finely honed presentation that addresses each prospect’s unique concerns. The result is that fewer objections ever arise. The poor ones? They do none of that. They just deliver one canned presentation after another.

21st Century Smart Selling Fact: Great salespeople get fewer objections because they develop serious prospect interest in their product or service through a perfectly crafted presentation based on research, trust and meaningful questioning.

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Yesterday, I called a company and asked to speak to a sales rep, by name. The conversation went like this, except that the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Me: “Good afternoon, would Mr. John X be in please?”

Receptionist: “No.”

Me: “Do you know when he might be back?”

Receptionist: “Monday.”

Me: “Does he have voice mail?”

Receptionist: “Yes.”

Me: “Could you please transfer me to his voicemail?”

CLICK…”You’ve reached the voicemail box of…”

Fortunately for John, I’ve met him before and wouldn’t mind doing business with him. However, what if I didn’t know John? My first impression of his company would have been the receptionist, and how do you think she made me feel? Not very welcome, that’s for sure.

If you’re in sales, you know you can’t be everywhere at one time, and you certainly can’t take every phone call yourself. In those cases, who are your prospects talking to? Are your prospects hearing a friendly and helpful voice from a company representative who cares about earning their trust and respect? If not, perhaps a little telephone etiquette training for your support staff might be in order. After all, when you’re not present to take the call, the person who answers the phone is really the next company representative your prospect will be doing business with, correct?

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