My thoughts on cold calling after 15 years... Sales and Selling |
- My thoughts on cold calling after 15 years...
- Pidgin holed - my company lead me on... what would you do?
- Competition inside sales teams? Any examples of how internal competition impacted sales?
- Advice on selling medical supplies direct from manufacturer!
- How to plan a transition from Project Manager at a tech company to Mortgage Loan Officer? (Read my story!)
- Going to BDR (salesforce) from B2C (reading recommendations)
- Veterans - how have you coped with previous economic downturns?
- Sales at OpenText?
- How do you respond to a manager who says no excuses, but then asks you why sales are low?
- How would you pitch this company to a potential CEO/Client (via Zoom)
- Newbie looking for advice!
- Problems differentiating solution from less experienced incumbents
- How do you deal with spam callers?
| My thoughts on cold calling after 15 years... Posted: 23 Oct 2020 03:49 PM PDT Hi guys. I posted this elsewhere, but I doubt much people saw it. A little bit about me. I started working in the Financial Industry at 18 years old. Purely commission based, and all sales were done primarily over the phone. To say it was rough in the beginning is an understatement. I had zero sales experience coming in, and was also a pretty shy kid growing up. As a matter of fact, the reason I got into sales was because my dad thought if I jumped head-first into a sales career it would help me break out of my shyness & anxiety. 15 years later, I'm still going strong and now at the peak of my career. I figured I could dispel a few myths and maybe offer some guidance. I know this has been talked about a bunch of times, but I figured I could contribute my own viewpoint on the subject. COLD CALLING IS DEAD Nah. I'm pretty sure I've seen hundreds of blog posts every year for the last 15 years with this exact headline. Most of them were selling digital marketing services, go figure. ONLY EXTROVERTS SUCCEED IN SALES Again, nope. As a matter of fact, some of the most successful people I've come across in the industry were quite introverted. They made ME feel like a social butterfly. To give you an idea, growing up I was a very quiet kid who loved programming and always thought I would have ended up in that field. Never had many friends, so I barely left home. As a matter of fact, I used to spend summer vacations at home pretty much glued to my computer either playing World of Warcraft or learning how to program. PEOPLE HATE GETTING CALLED Sure, some people get annoyed. Just like with ads on a Youtube video, popup ads on the internet, or commercial breaks on your TV. But if you had a good product that served who you were calling, you'll come to realize that those same people might actually be grateful for your call. It's just like any other form of advertisement. If people like what you are offering, great. Deliver on what you are selling and everyone wins. If not, no worries, move on from the call. And don't call people that are on the DNC. 80% of my client base started with an introductory phone call from me. The other 20% are referrals. I've had clients stick around with me for over 10 years and have built very close relationships with many of them. All from a quick phone call that they weren't expecting. COLD CALLING IS A NUMBERS GAME I'm sure you've heard this many times before. "Keep dialing, it's a numbers game" Or "Cold calling is a contact sport, just keep at it." It's always oversimplified. Let me break it down for you. Know your numbers. Know your closing rate, contact rate, cold lead to warm lead/prospect rate. You should be writing everything down daily. Over time if you see that you're consistently closing 10% of your warm leads, then you know that you need roughly 10 warm leads/qualified prospects to close a deal. That's when it becomes a "numbers game." Obviously, you should try and improve your closing rate, and any other measurable statistic that you have control over. Look at your cold-calling as a business. You should know every statistic possible about your calls. You should be able to predict future revenue based on your data - just like any other business would. A couple of tips for those struggling or thinking about getting into cold calling:
Hope it helps. Good luck guys. [link] [comments]  |
| Pidgin holed - my company lead me on... what would you do? Posted: 24 Oct 2020 07:38 AM PDT As the title suggests, my company has me stuck in growth market. I'm looking to hear what others think who may have been through this in their careers. So my question is: what should I do now? When is it time to move on? Am I still getting experience that I can leverage to get into a bigger market somewhere else? or is staying in such a small market slowing me down from reaching my goal of being in enterprise sales? Here is some background: saas company selling business management systems. 500m yearly revenue, 1500 employees, 200 employee sales team. I'm in smb : 1-10 user licenses, average deal size 100k-150k, yearly quota 2M. Currently over 100% quota attainment. Maturing product in the life cycle but still has moderate runway due to a lack of strong competition. I was brought on 2 years ago as full-cycle sales rep(prospect to close) with an account manager title (one product has 85% penetration so AM fits in that I manage a large portfolio of clients, but my daily activities are centred around hunting for full business management system sales). 1 month sales cycle (pretty transactional, selling to the owner/ceo and maybe 1 or 2 other stakeholder) Ote:105k forecasting to hit 120k at year end. My aspirations are to be in enterprise sales with an ote of 200k - 300k So here's the story: During the interview process I was very clear that my goal is career progression. Which of course I was told there is lots of opportunity to progress. Now that I've been here for 2 years I'm realizing that there is not the case. In my region there are 2 reps in smb, 2 reps in mid market, and 1 in corporate. Both the mid market guys seem to be very content with the hitting their number every year, neither seem like they are going anywhere soon, the corporate guy blows his number up every year by 140% of quota and it doesn't seem like he's moving on anytime soon. The opportunity to progress within the company is simply not there. And while this was my break in to Saas sales, I feel like I am in too small of a market segment to be getting anymore useful experience. Most of the job postings I see are asking for experience selling into enterprise accounts. My 1-10 user license segment couldn't be further from that. If you were in my position what would you do? [link] [comments]  |
| Competition inside sales teams? Any examples of how internal competition impacted sales? Posted: 24 Oct 2020 12:40 AM PDT I'm trying to see if competition can be a good way to increase sales and boost teams morale [link] [comments]  |
| Advice on selling medical supplies direct from manufacturer! Posted: 24 Oct 2020 01:49 AM PDT Hey guys, I am working with a manufacturer based in Asia who is making masks, medical gowns, and other basic medical supplies. These are all FDA certified and have the necessary documentation for sale in the USA. They have tasked me with selling large orders of these supplies to US customers, but I'm not sure where to begin. I have contacted some medical supply companies, and a few leads they gave me, but only one of the leads responded saying she wasn't interested. I'm really at a loss where to start as my only sales experience is inside sales in the automotive industry. Any help, thoughts, or criticisms would be appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 23 Oct 2020 07:10 PM PDT So a little background - I have a pretty good job working as a PM at a large tech company. I've been there 5 years (straight out of school) and I'm making $130k with good benefits, WFH full-time, iphone and plan paid, blah, blah, blah. You know the deal. It's comfortable and it's secure. But. I'm starting to hate it. I don't have a software background and I feel really disconnected from what I do. I'm also a young, single mom and 2020 has brought insane hours (ppl are working until 4am due to working across 5 time zones) and we're busier than ever. With that said, I'm ready for a change. So how did I start thinking about mortgages? My parents are real estate brokers and have had a boutique firm for 20 years. They approached me and told me they think I would be a great loan officer and potentially make a lot more than my current salary. At first I dismissed it tbh because having a commission-based job was not my cup of tea. I wanted the security of a corporate career. But then I started thinking about it and how I would love to help other women like myself (single, divorced, etc...) purchase their own homes. It's a demographic that is growing. Before quarantine in January and February it was the first time women were bringing home more money than men in the US. So that made me excited. What I want to do is put together a timeline and transition plan from now until September. Since I'm pretty burned out, I was thinking to take 3 months off June-August. I could use my 6 weeks of PTO before leaving my company to fund half of that. I'd also have about $100k in my savings by then with the assumption I wouldn't close any deals for 6-12 months. My living expenses are around $30-40k per year so I think I'm in good shape on this front. So, if you were me, what would your transition plan look like? How would you prepare yourself for a sales job if you had some time to prepare? What books would you have read? What organizational tools would you use? I really want to immerse myself because I know it's going to be a difficult transition. But I believe it'll be worth it and that I need this. I watched my parents "make it", starting from being broke immigrants to living the American Dream. Help me continue that and show my daughter that young, single moms can do it too! [link] [comments]  |
| Going to BDR (salesforce) from B2C (reading recommendations) Posted: 23 Oct 2020 09:42 PM PDT Hi guys, I'm an in-home/inside sales rep for a local company that is growing. Recently, however i have been disgruntled and displeased with the changes and future of this company. I have lost confidence in the direction of the company. Mostly the lack of transparency in comp plan and overall moral ethics. I was referred by a senior AE at Salesforce. They want me to begin as BDR to learn the system. Since SFDC is a massive eco system. (naturally) My question is, what are some good readings to prepare for the role? I've read SPIN selling and challenger sale, since that pertains to my job as an actual sales rep (which i currently am) But it looks like I'll be going back into cold calling/email campaigns. I'm a bit rusty at cold calling since I've been doing direct sales. What are some good books/resources to help me plan for this role? I hear fanatical prospecting is great. Are there any more? Help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Veterans - how have you coped with previous economic downturns? Posted: 23 Oct 2020 12:35 PM PDT Hi r/sales veterans, I'm a new key account manager for a T1 global automotive firm, I joined in July 2020 after grad school. Like other industries, the pandemic has hit the automotive scene hard—less people on the road driving, less cars wearing down, less vehicles being sold & less demand overall. Ofcourse, our management is under immense pressure by HQ to bring back sales and continue to gain market share. My particular account is one of our largest and had a significant drop with the market. Have any of you been in similar situations, and how have you coped with it? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 23 Oct 2020 02:05 PM PDT Hi all, I'm currently interviewing for an AE role at OpenText. I'd be coming from a small start up with a great product I like (analytics/BI) where I've been an AE for < 2 years. This role is my first experience as an AE. I like my current gig and can definitely see the advantages of being an early employee of a company that's on the come up. But I have always envisioned life at a large software company as a next step in career progression and recognizable name on my resume. I've also heard the training program at OpenText is extensive and well regarded which is a plus. I do know grass is always greener, and there pros and cons to the small vs large company debate. I've also been keeping in mind how crazy the job market can be right now. Any thoughts on this situation or if anyone has experience working at OpenText would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| How do you respond to a manager who says no excuses, but then asks you why sales are low? Posted: 23 Oct 2020 05:07 PM PDT We are in phone sales. Management primarily communicates with us through WhatsApp. Lately, they've started calling to ream us out for poor sales. On the group chats they have always had a no excuses attitude. Usually it's something like "get that sale, no excuses, we don't want to hear anything about the customer didn't want it, said they didn't need it or couldn't afford it". The reality at the moment is that there are few customers coming into the store. Most who do are here to pay a bill. Our job is to convince them to purchase an upgrade with accessories or to add a new line with accessories. Customers who are ready to get a new phone almost always refuse to buy accessories. They either cannot afford the additional cost (~$38) or say they are buying accessories online. That's when I get to hear "why aren't you selling accessories.... no excuses." How can I answer that in a way that doesn't sound like an excuse? It goes against me too when customer paying a bill refuse a sale. There's a ratio of bill payments to box sales. When there are let's say 5 payments and no box sales, it's automatically my fault when those five random people refuse to buy a phone. To management, it doesn't matter if they can't afford it or don't want it. I feel that is a realistic and legitimate reason, not an excuse. I never knew how to respond to them other than to placate by simply agreeing and saying yes ma'am, yes sir, I'll try harder. But today, they've added "I don't want to hear yes ma'am. I want you to tell me why sales are low" but at the same time I have to respond without it being an excuse. Confusing and stressing me out to the point that I don't know what to say or do and seems like it would look better on me if I refused to take payments and refused to sell anyone a phone unless they agree to buy accessories. I try to do my part in generating new sales. In the past, it was by advertising on Facebook marketplace, but that never led to sales. Lately, I've started asking every customer to refer a friend, something like "if you know anyone who needs a new number, we offer a free device and they'll only pay for plan and activation." Which is really a lie because I have to get them to buy accessories too. The only thing that I've not put effort into is scamming the customers. I know some of my coworkers do this at other locations, but I'm not comfortable doing that. Any advice on how to respond is appreciated. Thanks in advance. [link] [comments]  |
| How would you pitch this company to a potential CEO/Client (via Zoom) Posted: 23 Oct 2020 03:53 PM PDT |
| Posted: 23 Oct 2020 03:25 PM PDT Hi everyone, I just started a commission only sales job selling craft spirits and wine. I'm a young female and I'm looking for advice and tips for this new profession. I've been bartending for about 8 years and am excited to be on the other side of it. The only thing is the company who I work for is pushing me to go to retail instead of restaurants and bars right now due to the pandemic. I'm a bit nervous and looking for any advice, especially from young women who had had similar positions. Lmk! Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Problems differentiating solution from less experienced incumbents Posted: 23 Oct 2020 12:28 PM PDT I have run into a situation a few times in the past couple weeks and realize that I have a pretty weak strategy for addressing it. I sell Cell DAS systems for buildings. Basically it's a system that makes your buildings cell coverage work properly. The challenge is that most of the projects we work on have no budget for the solution however badly they need it. It makes for a challenging sale, but we have become pretty highly specialized and managed to actually beat our number for this year. However, it seems like the slowdown is going to impact us next year. I talk to a lot of customers who have never done this before and so they get a number from us, and then also one from their local low voltage jack of all trades team who really shouldn't be handling this scope but they take it on because everyone is looking for an extra revenue path right now. In these situations it becomes a difficult sale as the low voltage team has the relationship and usually the cheaper price. Sometimes what they do might work ok, sometimes it's a disaster. But I've struggled to manage selling against it because of the price & relationship being stacked against me [link] [comments]  |
| How do you deal with spam callers? Posted: 23 Oct 2020 12:27 PM PDT Hey r/sales, I know this is a bit off topic, but I wanted to see if anyone else has faced this issue before, and if so, how you dealt with it. So for the past two weeks I've been getting voicemails from a "Marsha from Freedom Network" regarding cancelling a timeshare. Funny thing is I never owned a timeshare and don't intend to. I've tried calling the number she mentions in the voicemail but it's not a working number. Googled them, but didn't find them. Found a similarly named agency, called them and they said they've been getting calls from people about this, but it's not coming from them. So I just wanted to see if anyone else has been getting these and how you dealt with them if at all. [link] [comments]  |
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