Well that seems to be the latest consensus on the most popular sales website on the planet SalesGravy.com and the associated Linkedin discussion threads and I have to agree!
I am a salesman at heart and I have always relished a challenge - back in the day I always rose to the occasion and outperformed pretty much everyone in my teams at the time whenever we had our weekly cold calling sessions to see who could generate the most leads. Yes it was a real rush and I thrived in the environment, learning the art of selling rapidly pitted against a bunch of other hungry sales stars. The crazy thing was we all knew it was a numbers game and we were more concerned about getting the numbers on the board rather than the customer and perceived value and credibility of our business and products in the market. When you see salespeople "burn" prospects that don't qualify or they can't seem to make any traction against, it should almost be a criminal offense and at least a sacking one.
What is the path of least resistance in selling?
REFERRALS!!!!!!!
Referrals always have been and always will be the best form of introduction and in this modern age of the internet and social media we have such a fantastic opportunity to build large and strong networks rapidly. The key is in how we utilise them.
Here are just a few tips on how to grow your referral based business:
- First and foremost if you have a happy customer ask them for the names of anyone they know who may also be in the market in the future (and when). Even better get them to introduce you personally or by email. This automatically gives you credibility and turns what could have been a cold call into a warm or hot lead.
- VISIBILITY & CREDIBILITY leads to PROFITABILITY - Be active in your market. Engage in social media, join in discussion threads in forums and sites such as Linkedin, write and submit articles for trade publications and if you are confident enough put yourself out there as a speaker at industry events. Become the "go to guy" or expert or at least the most visible/vocal person in your market giving credible advice and commentary on issues and points of interest. THIS WILL ATTRACT CUSTOMERS TO YOU!
- Host charity events donating all profits to a nominated charity. You can then work with the charity and they can do most of the promotion reducing costs and attracting potential new customers. It also increases your profile and credibility in the market as per point 2 above and allows you to engage with clients in a non threatening social environment strengthening your relationships.
- Offer existing customers incentives for making referrals. This can be done via an email newsletter as well further reducing the fear factor for salespeople not wanting to ask face to face.
- Actually thank people who give referrals preferably with a handwritten note followed by a phone call to show them you value their input and also increases the probability they will continue to refer customers through dramatically.
- Create strategic alliances with other non competing businesses and offer them discounts on your services or rebates for a reciprocal referral arrangement (even share databases or combine marketing material in mail-outs to reduce costs if you can).
These are just a few of the techniques you can use in your business to kill off the prehistoric tactic of cold calling and grow your business in any market while also improving your credibility, closure rates and perceived value.
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