How do you get hold of customers when they are working from home?
Homeworking is here to stay We have all been forced to embrace staff working from home by the spread of Coronavirus. Now many companies are now re-evaluating their working practices. A major company near me has five large office buildings. Three were closed at the outset of the virus. These three buildings will now stay closed permanently. Many of their staff are delighted to stop having to drive into work every day. Whilst it is certainly not for everyone, a large number of employees are delighted at being based at home. This creates a problem for sales people Trying to…
Four ways to improve communication with prospects and customers
Traditional communication often no longer works Here are some words from an interview that one of my clients carried out with one of their customers: “If they leave VM messages, I usually delete them. I HATE voice mail but I like email and would usually answer them, particularly if I know them. VM is the worst and it seems dated.” Naturally, this doesn’t apply to everyone Some people love the phone and hate e-mail. That’s why it’s vital to find out your customers’ and prospects’ preferred methods of communication.
How social media engagement leads to print sales
Do you have any friends you regret losing touch with? Over the years I’ve had a few friends that I used speak with regularly. But now the friendship is dead. There is just silence between me and them. It’s all my fault. I didn’t do enough to keep in touch. If I’d made more of an effort those friendships still might be alive today. It’s the same with social media. If you don’t make the effort, the relationship with your connections will fade away.
Why social media is not about finding prospects to cold call
If you throw enough mud, some of it will stick There are quite a few print sales people that I have met who believe that there is only one way to meet their targets. That way is to phone as many people as possible. Most of these salespeople have no time for social media. However, some have embraced it as an excellent way to build contact lists. They spend time researching as many names and numbers as possible from social media platforms. Social media has become their new telephone directory. It is certainly true that you can use social media…
How social media fits in to the sales cycle
Have you heard of an earth-inverting horticultural implement? You may not realise it, but many people talk about these regularly. It’s just that they use much simpler language. An earth-inverting horticultural implement is simply fancy language for a spade!
The three important guidelines to realistic social media activity
Have you ever been set impossible sales targets? Every now and then I meet sales people who are fed up with the targets that they have been asked to achieve. The activity levels may be exceedingly high. The expected profit margins may be unrealistic. Or it may simply be that they are being asked to find vast amounts of new work for the presses. If this is the case, the sales people generally become demotivated. They will soon be looking for new opportunities at other companies. The sales plan won’t be fulfilled.
Three reasons why social media should be a key part of your sales activities
We live in a world of change Incredible as it may seem, the first mobile phone call made in the UK happened as recently as 1985. Nowadays it is unthinkable that a sales person would be able to operate with out a mobile phone. LinkedIn launched in May 2003. Twitter started up in March 2006. Google Plus only went live in June 2011. For many sales people, social media networks such as these are as important as a mobile phone. They would not achieve the same sales results without these networks. Social media is now a vital sales channel. Here’s…
