By Joanne Black
Everyone Is a Part of Your Sales Team If you don't include your current clients in your referral-sales team, you leave money on the table--every single day. If you ask them, they will refer you. But, you must ask.
Get upfront and honest with yourself. Ask (and answer) the two most important sales prospecting questions:
1. How many client relationships do I have? (Translation: How many people do I know in all of my current and former client organizations?)
2. With how many of these clients do I have great relationships? (Criteria for "great": They return my calls.)
Savvy sales professionals have at least 100 client contacts. If just 20 percent offered you referrals, you'd have 20 amazing new contacts. Once you actively cultivate them, they become part of your "sales team." Can you see where this leads, and how much business you could generate?
Take a few minutes and imagine your new sales life when you talk to prospects who want to talk to you. When you receive a referral introduction, you:
* Are pre-sold (They know you and the results you deliver.) Have already earned trust (One of the hardest things for salespeople to gain.)
* Gain instant credibility (They know you're not just there to "sell" them something.)
* Shorten your sales process by at least 25 percent (You decrease your cost of sales.)
* Convert that referred prospect to a new client more than 50 percent of the time (You decrease your prospecting time and increase your client-facing time.)
Really. It's Who You Know
Here's the hard fact: most clients think of us only when they need us. It's up to you to get them thinking about you between orders. Your clients may not automatically offer referrals: Regularly remind them that you exist, so when a referral opportunity arises, you're the one who gets it.
The clients you serve well--the ones who know you, like you, and trust you--truly want you to achieve sales success............ READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE
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