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Old February 5, 2014, 05:28 AM
Dien Rice Dien Rice is online now
Onwards and upwards!
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,358
Default I'm also checking out my "big but"... thanks for the reminder!

Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveSki View Post
And I know several more excellent ways to get clients… once I get off my big fat put and work a plan.

It’s really not that hard once you learn to spit into the eye of fear.
Hi Steve,

Wow... What a superb post! I loved it... and... it's so true...

Unfortunately (I just looked behind me)... I suffer from a "big fat but" too... Way too often...

I agree with you that getting a list of prospects is an important "step one" in any "easy" way of selling something...

Like your "Win a Free Fantasy Portrait of Your Child" competition...

Or selling to your own "in-house" email list...

Now, you had some great questions...

By the way, I really enjoyed the "laughing toy donkey" and the "Tasmanian devil cage" videos! (Brought a smile to my face, as I'm sure it did to anyone else who watched them!)

"Can you go into greater detail of what prospecting tactics and approaches worked best for you? Did you prospect face to face or was it telemarketing? What approaches worked best for you? Did you have a favourite script you committed to memory?"

Well, I did both. But... I sucked at the face-to-face thing, in this case anyway...

First, in both cases, everything was "cold."

Telemarketing was to... a list from the phone book. The freakin' phone book. (Washed with the "do-not-call list", which is a government thing here...)

I did some face-to-face sales at something called the St. Kilda Festival here. I didn't do so well. I tried to get "attention" by wearing a funny wig, etc. But... at the end of the day... You know who sold the most?

I'm not being "sexist" in saying this, but it's the truth. Those who sold the most were the young salesladies wearing low cut tops. Again, I'm not saying it to be "sexist" - but that's the honest truth. As they say, "sex sells"... In this case, it seemed to be true.

The "deal" was that a comedy show which was usually $25 or $30 - you could buy a ticket for just $8. However, it was a kind of "stand-by" ticket, if I remember right. You had to call ahead a day or two ahead, and book then - if the night was booked out, you had to go another night. The purpose of the tickets was to fill seats.

Comedy needs a "full house" as everyone else's laughter makes the performance seem funnier. (It's just like a laugh track on TV.) An empty venue just makes the comedian seem less funny.

So, it was a "win/win" deal... People got cheap tickets. And the comedy club got to fill any empty seats on the night.

However, they didn't want to "cannibalize" normal ticket sales. That's why they sold to completely "random" strangers. If they sold to a list of existing customers, then they might sell less of the full price tickets - which is where they actually made their money...

So, in that case, it was a weird situation. You were selling a good deal - but to completely random people, not "qualified" in any way...

I did well on the phone though. What worked for me?

Enthusiasm was no. 1. Like Gordon's "White Bread Post", and like Zig Ziglar's "Golden Rule"...

I truly believe that "feelings transfer"... If you're feeling depressed, you make others around you feel depressed, too. But if you feel enthusiastic, you make others feel enthusiastic, too. An enthusiastic prospect is more likely to buy than a depressed one...

It helps if you believe in what you're selling.

It also helps if what you're selling is a "good deal" - that is, the offer is very important. (I learned this from my studies of direct mail - one saying is, "If you want to dramatically increase your response, dramatically improve your offer.")

In this case, I believe we were offering a great deal - a huge discount on the regular price of tickets!

I initially started with the script they gave me. But I modified it over time, based on what seemed to work best. I'd try new things, deleting and adding new stuff, and also getting new ideas from what the other sales people around me were doing...

In the end, I often won the regular "sales competitions" we had.

They actually offered me after a while to be a manager of the sales staff (which was a promotion), but I declined it. I did that because my real "goal" was to get sales experience, and as a manager, I wouldn't be directly selling.

"And did you enjoy the entire process or were there things that you disliked? What was your greatest challenge? What was the your biggest challenge?"

Well, I'm really a bit of an "introvert"... so, I found it "draining"... However, I learned that I can do it...

The biggest challenge was probably those days when you just don't "feel" like it, but you still had to do it. Everyone has those days when you just don't "feel" like it. However, somehow you have to get yourself going and do it. Anyway, those were probably the toughest days.

In addition, I found the weather and other factors could affect people's desire to buy. For example, people didn't seem to be in the mood to buy on those stinking hot days, when everyone is suffering from the heat, and feeling tired and cranky. None of us sold too many tickets on those sorts of days.

"If you could go back in time and relive those days again what would you change knowing what you now know?"

Well, one luxury we didn't have, which would have been nice, would be to sell to a "warm" list - or at least those who had been "pre-qualified" in some way!

Because we were selling to completely random strangers, we knew nothing about them. It'd be nice, I think, to know at least something about the person you are talking to, before you spoke with them...

As for your approach - I'm sure the "laughing toy donkey" approach would work! Getting people laughing would be a great start! (I think it would have worked better than the silly wig I wore to the St. Kilda Festival...)

Thanks Steve... I loved your insights, and gained a lot from reading them, too...

Now... Must see if I can reduce this "big fat but" of mine...

Best wishes,

Dien
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