• Why not simply get our team to generate their own leads?
• We’re paying salespeople anyway right?
• Why add the expense of an inside lead generation team or the costs of hiring an lead service?

Can’t marketing – who actually are tasked and paid to generate leads for the sales force – supply the leads your team needs? Better answer those questions or your team simply won’t have enough prospects to sell into.

Sales Funnels are Very Thin Right Now

The combination of a down economy, reduced demand and hyper-competition have reduced the amount of leads for everyone. The complaint I hear from the boardroom to the coffee counter is “I know we could sell more if we could just get into the opportunities.” Yet just knowing that leads are the very life blood of sales isn’t enough. Relying on marketing to produce sales ready leads or the other pat answers, like more cold calling simply don’t work. The evidence is clear. Look at your own sales pipelines and opportunity reports.

• Are your people chasing after any piece of business regardless of their margin or chance of success?
• Do your people have a realistic chance of meeting their quotas based on the leads they have and the opportunities they are working?

Few Sales Managers are happy with the answers to those questions. Lead and demand generation has become job one. Just getting into doors and people’s offices to sell has become our profession’s greatest challenge. We know the problem – it is the solution that has been much more difficult to discover. Brian Carroll, in his book says that the average B2B salesperson needs to generate at least $1,000 of revenue every working hour.

• Can they realistically be expected to accomplish that goal if they are cold calling?
• Is following up on weak trade-show leads and raffles any more successful?

No, lead generation and its outsourcing needs to be reexamined.

Salespeople are Not Good Prospectors

Dan Kennedy, a prolific author and an authority on sales wrote

“It’s been my observation that the weakest link in the selling chain for most salespeople is prospecting. Most people can do at least an adequate job of presenting their products or services, if there’s a reasonably interested prospect in front of them. But most of the salespeople I’ve encountered simply hate prospecting. Consequently, they avoid it, both consciously and unconsciously, and do it only when the dire necessity of imminent starvation pushes them to do it. And then they do it poorly.”

We expect salespeople to negotiate deals and be industry voices that executives want to work with. Salespeople are experts on their solutions, industry and the art of selling. Sales Managers expect their team members to walk the carpeted halls and sell to ‘C’ level business people. The skills salespeople need to do those things are very different, I would say even diametrically opposed to the skills of prospecting and lead generation. Making professionals that cost you 6 figures cold call, write marketing pieces and do other lead generation activities destroys their selling effectiveness. There are simply not enough hours in a day to do both lead generation and selling. Prospecting might get done but never consistently and without costing selling time and lost sales opportunities. So what is the answer?

Lead Generation is the Most Important Management Responsibility

Knowing that leads are the key to hitting your numbers and that salespeople are generally bad at creating them means that the responsibility for lead generation falls squarely to management. Now I know that is not a popular message. I get more pushback on that idea than any other as I work with business managers and owners. The idea that salespeople should be both excellent demand creators, deal finders and closers is so entrenched it simply won’t die. However the numbers are clear. According to CSO Insights, a top sales research firm, less than half of salespeople are hitting their numbers and making quota these days. We can continue to have unrealistic expectations on salespeople or provide them the leads they need to succeed.

That takes us to how should leads be created?

• Should the company rely on marketing or hire an outside firm to generate sales ready leads?
• Should an inside sales force be created? The tactics and methods you employ will be situationally specific.
• Do you have the budget to hire an outside firm or develop an inside team?
• Do you have a marketing department charged with lead generation, or more to the point – do they share the same view of what a real sales ready lead looks like with your and your salespeople?

The answers will be different but the overarching strategy will be the same.

What Sales Management Must Do

Regardless of how you get the job done fueling your sales team with leads the process is clear.

• First you must have a clear understanding of how many leads you need to make your numbers, both individually and for the team.
• Then you must clearly define and qualify what a lead is – what a likely buyer looks like and then create a lead ranking system for the leads generated. You do this by looking where your current customers come from and targeting the prospects that look the most like them. Only those leads that a salesperson can actively move through a buying process with should be given to the sales force. The rest remain in a marketing funnel where they are nurtured until they are ready to buy.

Right now feedback from the field indicates that less than 12% of all company generated leads result in business while 86% of those leads to eventually buy – just not from your salespeople. This disparity is caused by leads being dispersed to the field before they are ready – wasting both the buyers and the sellers time. That also explains why the majority of salespeople report that they don’t even bother with the leads their companies provide them. Creating and monitoring an internal lead nurturing process within your company solves increases lead generation effectiveness over 800%. Talk about an ROI or an improvement metric. Nothing beats lead nurturing done effectively.

Having defined the quantity and quality of leads needed for your sales force only two things remain. What activities will generate those leads and who performs those tasks? Your budget resources will determine both the activities and the manpower used for lead generation.

The rule is simple: use the lowest cost asset that produces the highest result. To do that you need to know your metrics, such as what does a lead cost you now, what is the immediate value of a lead (profit from the average first sale divided by the number of leads needed to get that win) and the life-time value of a customer. Generally it is less expensive to hire a telemarketer to uncover prospects than a 6 figure salesperson dialing for dollars.

Grease the Sled – Sales Ready Messaging

Budgets often prevent us as Sales Managers from using outside services or having an inside telemarketing staff. Often we must rely on the salespeople we have to do the work of lead generation. Who actually does the prospecting is less important than management actually preparing the process and doing the work for the prospectors. If you spend the time to research the best prospects, identify where they are and then create lead generation materials even the worst prospector can uncover a wealth of new business.

• Have you created effective lead generation letters for your team?
• Have you put together powerful voice mail and telephone scripts for your sales force to use?
• Do you role play with your team to perfect their elevator pitches and networking talks?
• Are they trained to effectively get referrals from not only existing customers but from thought leaders and industry experts  that they are in contact with?
• Do your team calls and meetings prepare the team for prospecting or just deliver product training, or worse point out how bad everyone is at demand generation?

There are many things that you can do to coach and mentor your team that will produce sales ready leads and more opportunities for them to sell into. Don’t expect salespeople to create their own processes or messages. Not only does this result in different messages throughout your team and market it gives you fragmented and inconsistent results.

Find ways of developing leads for your team. Work hard and diligently at the messages, collateral material, skill development and resources they need in order to have opportunities to sell. This will give your salespeople more selling time to win business. They will be more motivated doing what they love to do – sell. Most importantly it will rocket your sales numbers up while making everyone happier, wealthier, and more successful.

Russ Emrick is a sales coach with almost 30 years of experience as a Salesperson and Sales Manager. Having sold over $120 million dollars worth of goods and services to other businesses Russ now concentrates on coaching other sales professionals on how to succeed in the new economy of 21st Century. More information about sales and lead generation can be found at www.breakoutselling.com.

Real Sales Support

Recently the head of marketing was talking about how sales wasn’t establishing “value” in the market. Someone spoke up and asked, “Dean, what is our value?” Think about that – neither the marketing department or sales could articulate their value proposition.

• The reality is that sales people are often as confused as their prospects as to what drives demand for an offering.
• Sales people must know why customers buy your products and services.
• They must be able to articulate compelling arguments answering why new customers should buy from them.
• Sales messages must be consistent and uniform across the entire team.

If your sales team has to ask marketing “what is our value” they will compete on price. Effective support is establishing processes from demand creation to closing arguments. It is providing a well tested sales track for the team to follow. Instead of having to experiment each team member should have the right messages for the right market with the right tools to win.

Genuine Motivation

Your team is working harder than ever and probably having less to show for it. Commission checks are smaller, buyers are more difficult and the rewards of selling are fewer. Better figure out how to motivate and encourage your team before this economy and burn-out ruins them and your numbers.

Motivation by the sales manager is a very intimate relationship with each member of your team. Learn what their challenges and fears are. Then actively coach them to achieve their goals. You must sell your team the dream, you sell the hope and the desire to push forward no matter what. You sell motivation.

Guidance with Measurement

Helpful guidance starts with having goals the salesperson agrees with. Then you, not them, needs to monitor progress towards those goals. Each salesperson must believe they can reach their assigned quotas. Sales managers must

• Regularly keep salespeople on track
• Collaborate with your team to find out what is working or not
• Adjust plans to meet established metrics
• Identify areas where a salesperson is faltering
• Actively coach and work with them to get back on track

Facilitate Selling Time

The amount of business won is directly related to the hours spent selling. Brian Carroll pointed out in his book “Lead Generation for the Complex Sale” the average B2B salesperson has to produce $1,000 in business every hour to meet quota. Sales managers must minimize time sucking drains on their team, like unnecessary paperwork. Only require the reports and non-selling activities that are absolutely necessary. Outsource tasks that can be done by less expensive talent. Every hour you free up for your team to be selling means higher sales numbers for everyone.

Think about what your team needs instead of what they want and you’ll find your own set of important factors. When a team falters the first thing that gets replaced is the coach. You can avoid that fate by supplying what the team really needs to meet their numbers and make you look good.

Russ Emrick is a sales coach with almost 30 years of experience. Russ now concentrates on coaching salespeople on how to succeed in the new economy. More information about sales and powerfully managing a sales team can be found at www.breakoutselling.com.

Sales Prospecting Techniques are written about all the time – unfortunately most of what’s said is either outdated or simply wrong. Here is an example of what one famous sales trainer recently wrote,

“When I am working with my coaching clients I find that a lack of consistent sales is caused by a lack of consistent prospecting. A failure to prospect on a regular basis is what causes the feast and famine syndrome of sellers, why one month they earn a great commission check and the next they don’t.”

Sounds right doesn’t it? But is it really? Is it really that simple? Let’s look at the solutions this trainer recommended:

• Cold calling
• Direct mail Fax blast (is that even legal?)
• Voice mails
• Regular email newsletters
• Monthly printed newsletters
• Customer ‘reactivation’ calls
• Face-to-face door knocking
• Seminars
• Sending a catalog of your product listing to your customers
• Offering a free white paper
• Website lead generation
• Offering a free trial
• Radio, TV, Newspaper, Online, Magazine Advertising

How many of those sales prospecting techniques have worked for you? How many of them work for anyone? In fact how many of them can a customer facing salesperson actually execute on? Advertising? Really. Building a website or holding a seminar? With the demands to hit your numbers, endless paperwork, customer support and the work closing current opportunities do you have time to write a white paper or arrange a conference? This is the kind of sales prospecting techniques that get told to sales people as legitimate advice. And they are all, well, err, how can I put it nicely – nonsense.

Being ineffective is only part of problem. Not only is the advice counterproductive but it is demotivating. You feel guilty because you don’t have time to do them but think you should. Worse – they make you feel bad if you’re actually doing them but not getting much in the way of results. In short you blame yourself because your company…

• Doesn’t have an offering that excites the market
• Doesn’t provide you enough sales ready leads
• Expects results and only offers cold calling as your sales prospecting technique

In that entire list of prospecting activities there are only a few that a salesperson can actually do, like cold calling and door knocking. Most, like advertising, website building, and product trials are the marketing department’s job. Of the remaining activities a sales people can actually perform the question becomes are they effective? Sure they keep people busy. Sure some results trickle in – even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then, but do they really work? In a world of voice mail, a delete button on every keyboard and with people who are frazzled, over-worked, over-messaged and over-stressed do these sales prospecting techniques produce substantial results?

In my experience that sales trainer wants to blame the lack of leads on the salesperson. Many Sales Managers do the same, ranting at their team “you’re not cold calling enough.” Is the problem really in the salesperson or in the outdated sales prospecting techniques foisted upon us as legitimate prospecting methods?

It is time to stop the insanity. Let’s accept that our companies are not going to generate enough sales ready leads for us to sell into. That doesn’t mean that we have to chase after every piece of bad business or continue on the treadmill of bad sales prospecting techniques. We have to find out what works for today’s buyers – you know those that do business in the 21st Century, not 100 years ago when many of these methods were first developed.

No Question: Sales Prospecting is a key Element of Sales success

There is some truth in the conventional wisdom about lead generation. If you don’t have someone to sell to you won’t win business. Selling starts with a lead. Sales won’t happen unless you first engage with prospects. Sales people that actively prospect every day will always outperform those who just sit and wait. If a salesperson simply sits at their desk hoping the phone will ring they won’t be very successful. I have never met a wealthy passive salesperson. I have met plenty of wealthy sales people who aggressively prospect using strategies and messages that buyers are receptive too.

If sales prospecting and lead generation is so important why is it that most salespeople don’t do it? Years ago famous sales trainer and world class marketer Dan Kennedy wrote,

“It’s been my observation that the weakest link in the selling chain for most salespeople is prospecting. Most people can do at least an adequate job of presenting their products or services, if there’s a reasonably interested prospect in front of them. But most of the salespeople I’ve encountered simply hate prospecting. Consequently, they avoid it, both consciously and unconsciously, and do it only when the dire necessity of imminent starvation pushes them to do it. And then they do it poorly.”

There is no question that to get more business you have to have a full pipeline of opportunities and that they are created by effective sales prospecting techniques. The challenge is prospecting is hard and, for many people, a daunting task. The simple fact is few salespeople like prospecting. And in today’s hyper-competitive market and down economy prospects aren’t tripping over themselves to see us. Truth it, no matter who I talk to the biggest complaint is just getting in the prospect’s door. We have to work to get leads, hard and consistently, so we can close sales consistently. After all, even if you’ve mastered all the questioning, closing and objection handling techniques in the world, you must have someone to sell to. If you don’t have any prospects to use your selling skills with nothing else will matter.

Top sellers know that prospecting is the key to success, to making quota, and cashing large commission checks. I have never met a top performer where prospecting isn’t central to their sales activities. However top guns, the rainmakers of selling, are not cold calling or knocking on doors uninvited. They have discovered what methods work and then consistently execute on them.

Sales Prospecting Techniques that Work in the 21st Century

No doubt cold calling and the other strategies on that list worked years ago. That explains why they became so popular and are still promoted. Problem is that buyers have changed with technology and the times while most of us in sales haven’t. Voice mail neuters cold calling. Prospects keep their finger on the delete key while reading their email. Technology has become a barrier to sales instead of the boon it was meant to be.

Sales people are no longer the principle source of buyer’s information and so they’re ignored, even shunned until a price or quote is needed. We’ve put our product information all over the web, along with white papers, free newsletters and all kind of information customers use to find out about our products and services instead of us. Google is now their principle source of information. Salespeople no longer have the reason (or excuse) of providing timely industry and product updates to get a meeting with a prospect or client. The effects of this information glut has been most damaging to lead generation.

So what is to be done? The answer is found, as with the solutions for most of selling’s challenges – by asking our prospects and clients. Recently several research firms have done just that. The results are very revealing. Over 80% of prospects now use 5 principles methods to learn about the companies and salespeople they want to buy from. These 5 sources are…

• Colleague’s referral
• Existing vendor recommendations
• Personal recognition
• In-person seminar
• An introduction at a conference or presentation

Prospects now use other people to find the product and services they need, along with the companies and salespeople selling them. Over-whelmed, over-worked and over-scheduled prospects block out everything but the most urgent messages, emails, and telephone calls. When they need something they call someone they trust or use their own personal contacts. Sales lead generation is about who you know (and who knows you), not frantically trying to connect with only 8% of the people who are buying this quarter.

That people use other people to find suppliers shows how out of sync our sales prospecting techniques are with the way leads are actually generated. Buyers actually find salespeople and companies to purchase from by referrals, recognition, recommendations, and personal contacts.

The lack personal contact and recognition explains why cold calling, direct marketing and most other methods being used today are so ineffective. Individuals get an estimated 3,800 marketing messages every day. They erect barriers to keep additional sales efforts away from them – voice mail, private email addresses and gatekeepers. When they want to find a supplier they contact a peer or ask for advice from colleagues. You must become known in the circles your buyers consult with. Today effective sales prospecting techniques are those that get referrals, establish industry status and develop the salesperson’s visibility with his target market. Let me give you an example of just how powerful this idea is.

If Oprah Winfrey called you would you take the call or let it go to voice mail? If the governor of your state called would you meet with him or her? What about a famous celebrity or an established leader, like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet? Would you meet with them no matter how inconvenient? Most probably. Why? Because they command respect and are known by you. They are people you desire to meet. Of course the majority of us are not going to become world famous or command national attention. We don’t have to. We simply have to be known by the people we want to meet and want to do business with. So the only question left is how can you become a person that others want to meet – especially the buyers and prospects in your industry, territory and market? The great news is that this isn’t that difficult. You simply have to learn how to…

• Determine who is important in your territory and market
• Find ways of meeting those people through other people and by networking
• Take advantage of the meetings and presentations you attend by having a clear objective, a plan and research prior to the event
• Provide value to those you meet so that they want a relationship with you
• Consistently follow up and stay in contact with the important people and influencers in your market

Now you may be thinking: hey isn’t that called referral marketing or networking? Yes and no. Open most books that even bother talking about referral marketing and what you get a lesson on is how to get a few arbitrary names out of your customers. “Joe, you’re happy with my services aren’t you? Know anyone else that you can refer me to?” That isn’t referral marketing. Neither is showing up at a meeting and passing out business cards considered networking. We need a connection process, a systematic and effective set of sales prospecting techniques that get us involved, interconnected and top of mind with the influencers and prospects that can send business our way.

At the last training meeting I held I asked salespeople to write down their last 10 sales and the source those sales came from. I then asked them by a show of hands how many had gotten those leads by referral or recommendation from someone who knew them. Over 80% of the attendees raised their hands. I then asked them to make a list of the top 5 sales prospecting techniques they had actively performed in the past month. When I asked the crowd how many people had referral prospecting on that second list less than 15% of people raised their hands. See why we’re failing at lead generation? We know what works but don’t consistently act on that knowledge. We also don’t have a process or a system in place to lead generate in the way most buyers want to be found: by and through other people.

Connecting is the Sales Prospecting Technique that Works

Connecting in terms of lead generation means establishing meaningful relationships with other people who will either be in the market for what you sell at some point or people that influence those buyers. Connecting isn’t having a collection of business cards in a shoe box or glad handing at meetings. Connecting means becoming a memorable salesperson sought after by the thought leaders, experts and buyers in your territory. While that might seem like an impossible task it is actually simple, which doesn’t mean work or effort free. In today’s new economy we are only 6 degrees of separation from anyone else, to borrow a famous movie line. Connecting is actually a process that you can quantify and measure.

Step 1: Segment your territory into small market niches and segments

Step 2: Research who are the thought leaders, buyers and influencers in those targeted markets

Step 3: Find out through research and networking how to reach those people and what their interest are

Step 4: Touch those people by lead generating activities, such as attending meetings and conferences they attend. Write or call people they know and find out what interests them and what is important to them.

Step 5: Listen carefully to what is important to those people and learn how you can bring value into their businesses and lives, not what they can do for you

Step 6: Lastly deliver value to those people by keeping your commitments, following up with them and deepening the relationship over time

Of course those 6 steps need to be fleshed out in much greater detail. I’ll write out more about each on my blog. For now let me just tell you a quick story that illustrates each of the steps and demonstrates how to execute a great connection strategy. Of course I have a entire coaching suggestion on sales prospecting techniques that you might be interesting about learning more about.

Mr. Chase (name changed here for privacy) is a consultant that works with hospitals designing the specifications for new construction medical providers are considering building. Mr. Chase was in an ideal position to recommend my equipment when hospitals were expanding. I needed to be known and involved with Mr. Chase. I called several hospitals that had used Mr. Chases’ services and asked if they would recommend Mr. Chase for an upcoming project I needed help with. The goal was to learn about Mr. Chase from the people that knew him.

After multiple calls and a bunch of Internet research I learned that Mr. Chase was respected not only because of his professional abilities but because he raised money for many of the facilities he helped create. He did that because his mother had died of cancer. I started to think about how I could become a valuable person to Mr. Chase by providing help in that area since that was very important to him. Well, one of my friends, an event organizer had arranged several golfing events for non-profits to raise money. I called Mark up and explained that Mr. Chase was influential in the medical industry and asked if I could get them together if he would do at least one event for free just to demonstrate his services. Mark agreed. Now I just had to meet Mr. Chase.

Well I learned by talking to other architects that every quarter the state association of medical architects met at the capital. Mr. Chase was an officer and had to attend. I called the association and asked if vendors were allowed to attend those meetings. Absolutely, just pay the dinner fee and visitors can attend the general session was their response. So I sent off a check and attended the meeting. However before attending the meeting I sent each of the association officers a letter letting them know that I was coming to learn how my company could support their association in the future. As expected most associations are always looking for sponsors and donations. This got me an introduction to the officers after dinner and most importantly a chance to talk with Mr. Chase.

I told Mr. Chase that his reputation as a benefactor for his clients was well known and asked him when and why he had started that kind of work. After a great chat on the subject I mentioned that I had a good friend who specialized in fund raising using golf outings. Mark often offered his services for free for the right cause so was he interested in meeting Mark to discuss that further? Mr. Chase took out his card and wrote his private email and phone number down. He told me to call him anytime and that he would make sure he was available whenever Mark was in town. I thanked him and promised to make sure he and Mark got together as soon as possible.

Well long story short I arranged that meeting within a week. Soon after Mr. Chase and I had lunch during a fund raiser that Mark put together. I was introduced to 3 of Mr. Chase’s clients that were in the process of expanding their facilities and I got to play a great round of golf. I’d estimate that I sold over a million dollars of business from that lunch over the following two years. That doesn’t even begin to count the people and leads that have come in from Mr. Chase’s recommendations. While I was in that business I continued to add value by my expertise and contacts to Mr. Chase and he did likewise. All because I found out who I needed to know, researched what was important to him, and then planned out and worked on delivering value to that person.

Of course I’m skipping many of the details and even some of the fantastic peripheral benefits I attained from that process. My company did sponsor the association and contribute to their newsletter. We became the subject expert on radiology equipment and siting for the entire association throughout the state. We solved a lot of tricky problems for them over the years and consequently got first position shot at many new opportunities that we would have otherwise missed or only been one RFP responder out of 20. That’s the power of connecting and using sales prospecting techniques that buyers appreciate and actually want.

Bottom Line on 21st Century Sales Prospecting Techniques is…

Sales prospecting techniques that are effective use one or more of the 5 ways buyers learn of salespeople and companies…

• Colleague’s referral
• Existing vendor recommendations
• Personal recognition
• In-person seminar
• An introduction at a conference or presentation

Becoming known by the thought leaders and buyers in a market requires connecting with people. Establishing the right connections with the right people, like all effective lead generating activities, takes planning, consistent execution and delivering on the value and commitments you make. Sure it is work. It takes effort. However it is certainly less difficult and far more effective than cold calling or any of the other tired methods mentioned in the beginning of this article. Plus it’s fun – it’s actually working with people, networking and selling – not pushing paper, writing letters or becoming a computer geek in some kind of effort to be a sudo marketing guru instead of a salesperson.

Finally the big payoff is that done consistently over time and you won’t have to search out new leads or business – opportunities will seek you out. Buyers will want to do business with you based on your reputation and experience. Start today by connecting with people you know and finding new people you want to know. You’ve got nothing to lose but cold calling, thin sales pipelines, and small commission checks. Now go out and connect…go out and sell something.

Are You Ready to Get More Leads than You Can Handle?

For a limited time I’m offering coaching and free sales prospecting help to other salespeople who are tired of cold calling, fighting for any scrap of business they can find and simply worn out by ineffective sales prospecting techniques. To learn more just click here.

Squidoo is a great sales lead generation tool

Sometimes the doctor is the last person to take their own advice. I’ve known about Squidoo for years but just never got around to putting any information there, or at least not much. Well tonight I sat down and wrote my first “lens” there – a Squidoo lens is what Squidoo calls web-pages. They are free, are as easy to create as writing an email and are very effective for getting your name in front of people.

So I won’t write a long post here. Just head over to Squidoo and promote yourself.

Squidoo Lens

If you’d like to see my Squidoo lens, just Click Here. Be kind, I’m a sales guy, not a web designer – and it’s my first attempt at a Squidoo lens. However it proves that if I can do it you can too. Remember the secret to prospecting today is to get in front of traffic – not create it yourself. Squidoo is a perfect tool for sales lead generation because it gets tremendous traffic and costs nothing. Use it today. It is just one of many places you should be posting information about yourself and your offerings.

Squidoo is a great and free Sales Lead Generation tool

Use it often. Spend only a few minutes a week creating new pages. Use information you’ve already written in your emails, proposals and customer letters. Send out emails to people letting them know that you’re writing on Squidoo. It gives you another touch point with your prospects. Ask people, especially customers if you can post a case study or testimonial on Squidoo for them. That way both of you get publicly. Plus it builds relationships with those that you write about. They will send their peers, friends and potential referrals to see your Squidoo posts.

Oh, I almost forgot to ask – have you entered the sales contest yet for a flip camera? If not head over to here and enter right now.

Good luck and Good Selling…Russ

Are you still here?

Why aren’t your over at Squidoo writing up your customers and stories for sales lead generation and prospecting sales ready leads? Here is the link again Click Here for my new lens you can use as an example. Then just create your own free account and you’re ready to go. Simple.

You can get more information about Sales Lead Generation here.

Do you have a great sales story about the big deal you closed, the one that almost got away, or the win you pulled from the jaws of defeat? How about a strategy or sales technique that you’ve had success with? If you have some good sales information and are willing to share your story you could win a free Flip Camera from Breakout Selling. Here is a sale tool that is useful for both your personal life and selling. You’ll find tons of ways to use this Flip Camera in your business – to get testimonials, do case studies with photographs and even capture celebratory moments when your customers buy.

I Need Your Help

If you’ve been reading the different pages here at Breakout Selling you’ll see that I have to do a lot of writing and I need your help. Breakout Selling offers online sales training, sales training and sales training materials. In addition to that I’ve written several books on Lead Generation, Prospecting, and Selling in the New Economy. I really need some help and so I’m willing to offer a bribe to get it - a free Flip Camera. So  let’s have a Sales Contest

Flip Cameras are the hottest electronic gadget sold on Amazon. These cameras take amazing video clips as well as great photographs. You’ll love having one. The great news is that you don’t have to spend over a $100 dollars to get one. Just share some of your hard earned experience with me and other salespeople. Every salesperson has interesting story and experience that can help others. Below are just a few of the tidbits that you can share to win a Flip Camera.

• The deal that didn’t get away
• Prospecting methods you’ve had success with
• Good cold calling ideas and scripts
• A different sales contest you won
• What’s working for you in this down economy

Every quarter (and sooner if we have enough entries) Breakout Selling picks the  best entry and sends someone one of these hot Flip Camera’s. Why shouldn’t it be you?

Today the number one discussion is on how salespeople need leads. Demand    generation is critical. Sales prospecting, lead generation and capturing buyers  attention has never been more important. Perhaps you have a good technique or  method for prospecting. Share your ideas and enter to win a Flip Camera.

How This Flip Camera  Sales Contest Works

I’ve told you my reasons for needing your stories and running this sales contest. I want to use them to help other salespeople, illustrate sales principles and have interesting stories to include in future online sales training courses and sales books. Hopefully I’ve given you enough reasons to enter: the possibility of winning the hottest camera and gadget now being sold: a Flip Camera.  Here are the rules:

• The strongest and best entries win -  like selling,  merit and quality counts
• The story must be true and believable
• Ideas, techniques and methods must be usable by salespeople, not just managers and companies
• You must be a salesperson, rainmaker or a business person who sells
• You must share (confidentially and 100% private) your contact details so that if you win you’ll get your Flip Camera

That’s it. Every submission will be read and rated in comparison to the other entries. On a regular basis, no fewer than 4 times a year, a winner will be announced and the Flip Camera sent to the winner. There are no fees, no shipping charges, no catches to this offer.

All you have to do is enter your information into the form below. I’ll send you a confidential email with the email address to send your entry to. I’ll even give you feedback and answer any questions you might have.

Not All Sales Contests Are Equal

I know, I’ve been in plenty, you probably have been as well. Well this sales contest is different because it isn’t a give away to the sales manager’s pet, or the guy who already is teed up with the biggest sales funnel or closed deals.

This Sales Contest is an equal opportunity contest available to all salespeople and entrepreneurs who sell.

Remember, you’re going to have some stiff competition. My students, members and customers all participate in this sales contest and it won’t be running for ever. The sooner you act the better chance you have of winning.

Good luck,

Russ

PS: Tooting your own horn like this is a good way for you to get recognized and some good publicity. You can use your stories in your own materials and if you’re published in mine I’ll send you clippings, books, and wherever else you get mentioned. This is a win-win for both of us. Put in your entry today. Enter your information in the form and get going now!

Enter now for the opportunity to win a flip camera for the best sales contest ever!

Over 80% of people now find salespeople through word-of-mouth and referrals

Cold calling, direct mail and most of the time consuming efforts salespeople employ to reach new buyers are ineffective today. When a prospect needs something they ask a colleague or peer for a recommendation. Here is a free and effective method for creating your own expert status and becoming known in your industry: publish articles at www.ezinearticles.com

Selling isn’t telling. Selling is an evidence business. Buyer’s want proof that you are a credible and knowledgeable business person that they will benefit from. Establishing your reputation requires proof elements – like published articles, referrals and case studies. A great place to start is by publishing articles on the Internet that you can tell people about. Ezinearticles is one of the largest and most respected article spots on the Web. The best part about Ezinearticles is that it is free.

For an example of how powerful this method is just visit my page at Exinearticles. Here you’ll see the articles I’ve written. Whenever I have a prospect that wants to learn more about me I refer them to that link. They can see if my knowledge and experience matches their needs. Prospects can sample my expertise and know that I can help them. Instead of telling them “hey I know what I’m talking about” I let the credibility of being published and read prove it.

But I Hate to Write

There are two simple solutions if you don’t like to write:

• Find writers who you can outsource the job to
• Leverage your company’s materials

Take an ad out on Craig’s list. Call your local community college and find students willing to write for you. These are just two inexpensive ways you can find qualified writers who will do the work for you. Perhaps your spouse or children enjoy writing. Ask them to pitch in. Don’t let the writing part hinder you. Use the whitepapers and other company provided collateral materials as publishable articles. Tweak them for Exinearticles and start getting materials on the Internet.

That said, never accept that no-one is buying, even in today’s horrible economy. Apple just sold over 100 million in iPads. My cellphone provider, Sprint, just sold 10,000 new HTC phones per hour for three days straight. As sales trainer Dave Lakhani has said “there are always someone willing to buy, always.”

Sales Lead Generation

In your territory there are always far more prospects than you can effectively work with. Leads come from many sources, from different niches, from your customers, even from different industries. How do you identify the best sources and the best leads? In order to be effective you must reduce the ‘universe’ of prospects to those most likely to buy.

Not all leads or relationships are created equal. You must decide who the most likely buyers are and in what market or niche they belong. The more specific you are about your target market the more accurately you can message them.

Sales Lead Generation starts with knowing who your best prospects are!

What do your best customers look like? That is what your best prospects will look like as well. Where do your best customers come from? Those are the areas to target first with all of your lead generation activities. Look at the following details about your current customers and the good leads you have now,

• What customers are the most profitable, easiest to work with, or closed the fastest?
• What are the characteristics of those customers? Why are they on your short list of the best customers to work with?
• What other information do you have on your customers that has been important or answers why they do business with you?
• Where did those customers come from – the lead source and industry?

This is just the introduction to the topic of Sales Lead Generation

This is just the introduction to B2B Lead Generation and you can read more at the following links:

Click Here to See Part 1 of Sales Lead Generation – An Overview
Click Here to See Part 2 – Getting in the Door
Click Here to See Part 3 – The 4 Principles of Sales Lead Generation
Click Here to See Part 4 of Sales Lead Generation – The Right People with the Right Message

If you’d like to get the full video training on Sales Lead Generation, including the book that comes with it, simply enter your contact information below and tell me where you want me to email the free sales training materials.

• Value – The Cost of Admission
• The Right People with the Right Message
• Using the ‘Big Fish/Small Pond’ Principle
• Varied, Consistent and Continual Messaging
• Hands Free Follow-up
• Ruthless Execution based on a Well Crafted Plan

By using multiple contact strategies, such as email, smart calling, public speaking and networking, you can both generate sales-ready leads for today and develop leads that will be ready to buy in the future.

The majority of buyers today find their suppliers through referrals, recommendations and by personal awareness of a vender. Establishing relationships with partners, industry experts and becoming a person of influence yourself within a market or industry has become crucial to getting into opportunities. Selling who you are and delivering value as a professional has become as important in effective lead generation as selling the products and services of your company.

This is just the introduction to the topic of Sales Lead Generation

This is just the introduction to B2B Lead Generation and you can read more at the following links:

Click Here to See Part 1 of Sales Lead Generation – An Overview
Click Here to See Part 2 – Getting in the Door
Click Here to See Part 3 – The 4 Principles of Sales Lead Generation
Click Here to See Part 4 of Sales Lead Generation – The Right People with the Right Message

If you’d like to get the full video training on Sales Lead Generation, including the book that comes with it, simply enter your contact information below and tell me where you want me to email the free sales training materials.

sales lead generation

sales lead generation

The 4 Principles of Sales Lead Generation

What you sell must have Value for your customers. It must be something they want.

Not everyone wants a particular solution or product. You have to be very clear about who needs your offering and then how you will develop Relationships with your target audience.

Once you’ve identified the what (value) and the who (Relationships) you have to contact the people most likely to buy. Once isn’t enough, nor is using a single method. Activities are how you message the right people at the right time to develop interest in your products and services.

Lastly, you must use Technology to follow-up with your leads, nurture them, and build your relationship with prospects. Simple technology aids, like Outlook, can leverage your time and efforts. Otherwise, you’ll not be able to consistently prospect .

This is just the introduction to the topic of Sales Lead Generation

This is just the introduction to B2B Lead Generation and you can read more at the following links:

Click Here to See Part 1 of Sales Lead Generation – An Overview
Click Here to See Part 2 – Getting in the Door
Click Here to See Part 3 – The 4 Principles of Sales Lead Generation
Click Here to See Part 4 of Sales Lead Generation – The Right People with the Right Message

If you’d like to get the full video training on Sales Lead Generation, including the book that comes with it, simply enter your contact information below and tell me where you want me to email the free sales training materials.

In the past, buyers used salespeople to help define their purchase requirements. Today, buyers do much of their research online. Frankly they don’t want sales people reaching them until they need a price or a quote.

Getting in the door is a good measure of lead quality – are the leads you are getting ready to enter into a buying process or are they just trade-show raffles looking for a free gift? Sales Lead Generation that produces results does three things:

• It produces sales ready leads
• It attacks leads to you instead of you finding them
• It automatically develops the leads not sales ready

Not all leads are created equal. Some leads will never buy, others are ready now. The vast majority – 80% or more – will buy but not today. In fact, lead statistics reported by the largest research firms say that only 8% of leads are sales ready when salespeople get them. However another 26% will buy within 12 months and another 33% in the following year.

That means with the right follow up your results go from 8% to over 67% – an ASTONISHING 800% increase in the number of opportunities you have to sell into.

This is just the introduction to the topic of Sales Lead Generation

This is just the introduction to B2B Lead Generation and you can read more at the following links:

Click Here to See Part 1 of Sales Lead Generation – An Overview
Click Here to See Part 2 – Getting in the Door
Click Here to See Part 3 – The 4 Principles of Sales Lead Generation
Click Here to See Part 4 of Sales Lead Generation – The Right People with the Right Message

If you’d like to get the full video training on Sales Lead Generation, including the book that comes with it, simply enter your contact information below and tell me where you want me to email the free sales training materials.

sales lead generation

sales lead generation

sales lead generation