Shad M
Sales Planning
Posted 9:56 AM on 03/05/08 -
Reply to this postMicrosoft Outlook combined with Microsoft CRM is a great combo. Add to that a windows mobile device or smartphone with calendar and email and you should be more effecient than 90% of your competition.
nITRONOISE
MICROSOFT CRM
Posted 9:12 PM on 03/24/08 -
Reply to this postCan you help me with what product Microsoft's CRM is bundled with? My company went to Thunderbird, I MEAN dunderbird, and I lost my interface with ACT. SO I WILL BUY MY OWN SOFTWARE !!!!!
John
Cold calling -vs- Warm calling
Posted 11:01 AM on 02/26/08 -
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A little bit of info for you sales pros. I have been in sales for 15 years, and self employed for 4 years now. My background was in IT training sales. I recently took a buy out from my old company and started a new one which I own myself (no more partners)! Anyway, when it comes to cold calling, I like to use funny greeting cards to warm the prospect up before calling them. If you gear the greeting card toward your business, and how it can help the client (feature/benefit), you will get in front of more prospects. Greeting cards have a HUGE open/read rate. They also evoke emotion. If I send a greeting card out to a prospect, and I don't get a meeting, they still know who I am! Then I send them more cards until I get in front of them.
Paul A
Technology and data Base Management
Posted 8:56 PM on 02/25/08 -
Reply to this post
I have been looking for someone that can help me set up an Ezine that I can send out to my client base. In the spirit of Jeffrey's Tuesday's weekly offering. Granted, to start off it won't be so grandiose, but I have to start somewhere. In speaking to computer people that have computer-related businesses, they don't seem to know what I am talking about or can't point me in the right direction. Most of them only concern themselves with the hardware: they either repair the machines or want to set up servers. Can anyone out there help with with some info on how to get an ezine off the ground that won't break the bank?
Shad M
Constant Contact
Posted 5:25 PM on 02/27/08 -
Reply to this postSure can!
I started with Constant Contact. It is a great way (and inexpensive) to reach your audience with an assortment of flyers, newsletters, invites, etc. You can morph them easily, add links to websites, pictures, and so on. You can also merge your outlook info right into it so it is easy to set up. And you don't need a computer degree to use it! Oh, and I think you get a free 30 day trial. Go to constantcontact.com and check it out.
Paul A
Ezine info
Posted 7:36 PM on 02/28/08 -
Reply to this postShad, tks for the info I will look into it. May I be so bold to ask if you can direct me your ezine? It will give me an idea what others are doing. In any case tks again for the info, I will check into it.
Shad M
Where to send Ezine?
Posted 3:41 PM on 03/04/08 -
Reply to this postPaul,
Be glad to, if you tell me where to send it...
Dave H
constantcontact example
Posted 1:48 PM on 03/07/08 -
Reply to this postShad are you having success using the Constant Contact site and service. I am interested. Do you have a link to view your site?
Shad M
Constant Contact
Posted 3:33 PM on 03/10/08 -
Reply to this postI don't have a constant contact "site" if that is what you are asking. Yes we have had success with it. But their are rules you must follow. They give a free webinar demo daily that is worth the time. My personal website is technologyguy.net but that doesn't have anything to do with constant contact unless you sign up on my main page. Then I get an email (you will too) with your contact info and telling me you signed up. Pretty cool and it works.
SarahTaylor.com
Don't forget iContact.com!
Posted 2:50 PM on 03/12/08 -
Reply to this postHi Paul - you may want to scope out the competition a little and look into using icontact.com. They compare their features and prices versus ConstantContact and other services. I agree with Shad, Constant Contact is a very good service and easy to use. I used CC for a year or so and then didn't renew (biz plans changed). But iContact is cheeper and offers the survey service included, whereas you have to pay extra to have that with CC.
Kate
The Longer Sales Cycle
Posted 2:44 PM on 02/24/08 -
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I work in employee benefit sales, and absolutely love what I do. I have a great tolerance for the long and complex sale, and many of my clients seem to be the larger, and the ones that involve more meetings, and complex sales process. Does anyone largely deal with this same structure of sales,,and what do you recommend as the most positive way to proceed with securing your success in the long range sales process, i.e., how do you stay relevant, in front of them? Thank you!!
Shad M
use email
Posted 3:01 PM on 02/25/08 -
Reply to this postMy last sizable deal took me 11 months to close. What I did to stay "in front" of them and "relevant" was send bi-weekly emails with valuable info on updates of my products, as well as information that helped their business. A lot of these emails didn't even have anything to do with my product. It sends a message that you aren't only worried about yourself and that you care about your customers. Maybe a simple answer, but it proved effective in my case. But remember, doing ANYTHING is better than nothing!
Kate
use email and high touch?
Posted 9:14 AM on 02/28/08 -
Reply to this postI totally agree with you, thank you for your experience, and input!! That makes a lot of sense, and will incorporate that more into what I am doing. With my clients I have found it nice to give something "HIGH TOUCH" along with something informative and "high tech". It gives down to earth approach, and when clients have given me some memento of their company, I think of them every time I see it and it brings a fondness. Nice way to do business.
Tom Rutter
Introduce your prospects to each other
Posted 3:15 PM on 03/09/08 -
Reply to this postYou probably have a large memory list of customers and what they each do. One way that I've found that works wonderfully, is to really LISTEN to them, understand their business, and then introduce another one of your customers to them that they could mutually benefit from knowing each other. One case was a Real Estate person, just invested in some property and looking for tenants; another prospect was looking for new space. Rather than just saying, "Hey, I know this guy", I set up a lunch (which I bought) at a local country club, introduced them to each other, and talked only about them and how they might benefit from knowing each other. I closed a major deal with each of them within the next three months (which would have taken at least 6 months), and we continue to go out to lunch periodically.
