No More Cold Calling

JULY 13, 2021

You get an introduction to your prospect, and you get a meeting with the decision maker. They believe a call isn’t cold because it’s a marketing-qualified lead, because the prospect downloaded a whitepaper, or because they have a mutual connection on LinkedIn. Referrals help you ace Part One and set you up for success in Part Two.

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Decision Maker Referrals Sales Qualified Lead Marketing Qualified Lead 401

Mr. Inside Sales

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

Question for you: How often do you take notes while you’re on Mute and your prospect is revealing their buying motives? Make a much better connection with your prospect or client because they will feel listened to and heard. You don’t take notes? How about using your Mute button? Are you actively doing that? (If

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Motivation Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker 332

Mr. Inside Sales

JUNE 11, 2021

And when your ears are closed, you learn nothing about your prospect’s buying motives, their possible objections, or whether or not they are buying into your pitch. Ask questions frequently of your prospect. Intersperse it with tons of questions and tie-downs and opportunities to engage and learn more about your prospects.

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Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker Licensing 317

Mr. Inside Sales

JULY 6, 2021

Rookie mistake: You’ve got several products or services you can offer a prospect, and you start by offering the first, or main one, then hear an opening for another one so pivot to that one, and describe another—and then another. Not only will the prospect be confused, but you will be, too. Stalled sale. Sound familiar? Happy selling!

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Mr. Inside Sales

JUNE 30, 2024

Imagine: for less than $18 you can suddenly fly past gatekeepers, overcome initial resistance statements from prospects, and qualify leads so you’ll know exactly how to close them! And all it takes is a little bit of effort, time, and a tiny amount of money.

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Gatekeeper Face-to-face Sales Qualified Lead Decision Maker 255

Mr. Inside Sales

MARCH 12, 2022

Congrats to those companies & individuals who sent in their prospecting scripts for review. Usually, they asked it this way: Gatekeeper: “Thank you for calling the Johnson company.”. The problem with this is you’re A) Identifying yourself as a sales rep, and B) You’re now inviting the gatekeeper to qualify you out.

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Gatekeeper Prospecting Decision Maker Face-to-face 156

Mr. Inside Sales

AUGUST 7, 2020

This week, I listened to a closing call from one of their reps, and here is how the prospect opened the call: Prospect: “Let me just tell you upfront that we’re looking at a lot of different options right now of which yours is just one…”. Here’s what I teach: Prospects have all the answers. Take what a prospect gives you.

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Prospecting Decision Maker Face-to-face Gatekeeper 199

Mr. Inside Sales

JUNE 6, 2020

What’s the biggest mistake sales reps make with prospecting or cold calling? Your prospecting will go a lot better if you do! Cold calling mistake #1: Don’t pitch the gatekeeper. To start with, the gatekeeper doesn’t want to hear your pitch. If you need more specific advice on this, see these gatekeeper scripts here.

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Prospecting Gatekeeper Cold Calling Face-to-face 161

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 9, 2018

Reps say they’re challenged finding the right prospects. No wonder it can take a dozen touches to reach prospects. If you’re teaching your reps how to prospect, is that how you want them spending their time? What has changed is the abundance of technology tools, and with that change comes a huge risk. Yep, that long.

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Lead Generation Sales Qualified Lead Lead Rank Lead Scoring 197

Mr. Inside Sales

JANUARY 8, 2021

Two weeks into the New Year, and are you already stressed about picking up the phone and making prospecting calls? Think about it: Not everyone you speak with is going to be a prospect or a deal, are they? And regarding fumbling a good lead—my experience is that if a prospect is interested, then they’ll speak with you.

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Face-to-face Cold Calling Gatekeeper Decision Maker 313

Mr. Inside Sales

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020

We’ve all been there – you call your prospect back at the appointed time for your presentation and they tell you any of the following: This isn’t a good time, OR. Rather than set another time to get back with them—thus letting the prospect off the hook—try the following: Response #1: “Sure, I can take as long or little as you need.

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Sales Qualified Lead Face-to-face Scale Call-back 320

Mr. Inside Sales

AUGUST 13, 2021

But when you’ve done a presentation and then don’t hear back from a prospect, it can often mean the kiss of death. While it seems counter intuitive, I’d rather know up front if I’m wasting my time or if this is a real prospect. Speaking about prospects hiding behind emails, etc., Ghosted—just the sound of this is chilling.

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Face-to-face Call-back Gatekeeper Decision Maker 317

No More Cold Calling

OCTOBER 1, 2020

It takes roughly eight touches for sales reps to reach cold prospects. The #1 challenge salespeople face is reaching decision-makers quickly, but getting prospects to call you back is deceptively simple with a referral program. Yes, your most predictable and measurable prospecting tool is your very own sales team, asking for referrals.

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Referrals Cold Calling Sales Qualified Lead Call-back 373

Mr. Inside Sales

APRIL 14, 2023

To follow up on the blog post from two weeks ago (about the one quick fix to get your VMs returned ), here is the second quick fix: Stop trying to trick your prospect! So do your prospects. Your prospects can see through you and your message will be deleted quickly. I ALWAYS delete these messages the moment I hear them.

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Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker Licensing 254

No More Cold Calling

JULY 20, 2017

Too many account based selling teams over-rely on technology to reach their prospects. Some Lead Generation Tools Never Change. Despite what you’ll often hear from technology gurus about lead generation tools, sales success isn’t determined by who has the best technology; it’s determined by who has the best relationships.

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Account Referrals Lead Generation Cold Calling 285

Hubspot Sales

DECEMBER 23, 2022

Effective sales prospecting is a multistep process that requires systematic prospect discovery, qualification, and outreach. In this post, you’ll learn the 19 best sales prospecting tools to help you engage with your ideal prospects. What Is a Sales Prospecting Tool? Choosing the Right Tools.

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Tools Ideal Customer Profile Prospecting Intent Data 124

Mr. Inside Sales

APRIL 11, 2021

Tricky title, I know, but there is a tool out there (many, in fact) that will enable you to do this. And this particular one is called TapeACall Pro. As the name suggests, this is a phone recording app for your iPhone. This one has the best features, including recording incoming calls—and calls you’re already on—and more.

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Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker Licensing 291

Mr. Inside Sales

JANUARY 22, 2021

We all know the importance of asking questions of our prospects and clients, yet how many do you ask? And: Your prospects have all the answers about whether they’ll buy from you or not, and what you need to say to sell them. Here’s a list to get you started: For prospects: #1: “What motivated you to reach out to us today?”. [If

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Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker Licensing 287

Mr. Inside Sales

SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

Script #1: Make sure and have an email already prepared while you’re prospecting. The point here is whether or not your prospect will: Give you the time to speak further with them. This tells you how cooperative your prospect is, and so how cooperative they will be throughout the sales cycle. Right then!

Sales Qualified Lead 284

Sales Qualified Lead Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker 284

Mr. Inside Sales

MARCH 17, 2023

So many sales reps are anxious when they speak with a prospect. Plus, they know that most of the “prospects” they speak with don’t turn into a deal anyway, so, why not learn who is a real prospect right from the get go? It seems they are afraid and think things like: “Will they like my product or service?” “Am

Decision Maker 261

Decision Maker Face-to-face Gatekeeper Licensing 261

Mr. Inside Sales

JANUARY 19, 2024

Now ask questions, try to engage, and take your prospect as far as they’ll let you! You see, the value of having a proven response in your back pocket is that it allows you to move past a prospect’s initial resistance. [Now take it down, and then move into qualifying!] That’s what most blow offs are! appeared first on Mr.

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Face-to-face Gatekeeper How To Decision Maker 273

Mr. Inside Sales

MAY 14, 2022

What these approaches have in common is they are passive, and they give the gatekeeper control of the call. Otherwise, listen to your own recordings and see where and when you give control of the conversation to the prospect. When greeted by the receptionist, they’ll ask: “Ah, would it be possible to speak with Dave Anderson?”.

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Gatekeeper Face-to-face Decision Maker Licensing 235

Mr. Inside Sales

JANUARY 2, 2021

As you speak with your clients and prospects this week, it’s helpful to realize that they are all feeling this same pressure also. If so, then you’re not alone. Most company’s sales teams are under immediate pressure to begin accomplishing their new goals and sales targets for 2021.

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Face-to-face Gatekeeper Inside Sales Decision Maker 314

Mr. Inside Sales

JUNE 22, 2024

Once I get my prospect on the phone for our chosen closing time, I open with: “Before I get started, I’m sure you’ve looked over things, so, what questions do you have for me?” The important thing is that knowing where my prospect is in the beginning not only tells me which direction to go, but it also saves me a ton of time!

Closing 255

Closing Face-to-face Gatekeeper Sales Qualified Lead 255

Mr. Inside Sales

MAY 15, 2020

We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Face-to-face 268

Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker Licensing 268

Mr. Inside Sales

JUNE 7, 2024

I’ll get you started: For the Gatekeeper: Closed ended: “Is _ available?” (or—“Can If you would like to instantly improve your selling skills—and so your open and close rate—you can do so by taking just a few minutes to complete the following exercise (don’t worry, it’s easy and fun!). or—“Can I talk to _?) or just—“Hi, __ please.”)

Selling Skills 224

Selling Skills Gatekeeper Face-to-face Decision Maker 224

Mr. Inside Sales

OCTOBER 11, 2021

Managers tell reps to stress the quality, the warranty, the features and benefits, but your prospects have heard all that before, haven’t they? Often times, services and products are roughly the same, and prospects will buy from the people they like, know or trust. Want a better way?

Objections 285

Objections Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker 285

Mr. Inside Sales

SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

We all know the importance of listening to our prospects and clients, so why are we doing so little of it? Simple—salespeople love to pitch, to tell prospects of all the features and benefits, and to find the one selling point that might make the difference. 2) Write down key words or phrases your prospect uses.

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Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker Licensing 248

Mr. Inside Sales

APRIL 29, 2024

While this may sound like a reasonable way to follow up after sending an email, do you see how you’re providing your prospect with the perfect stall? The best practice way is to assume your prospect received it and even glanced through it. How many times you hear: “Ah, when did you send it?” Or “I haven’t had time to look at it yet.”

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Follow-up Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker 226

Mr. Inside Sales

MARCH 22, 2019

Whether it’s nervousness, fear, inexperience, or just the conviction that if they stop talking the prospect will say “Not interested” and hang up, it doesn’t matter. They talk over their prospects. They talk after they ask a question (and don’t even let their prospect answer). And then they talk some more….

Prospecting 161

Prospecting Face-to-face Gatekeeper Inside Sales 161

Mr. Inside Sales

DECEMBER 12, 2020

In case you missed this, I received the following email last week: Dear Mike: The people have spoken and your article, “3 Keys to Dealing with Difficult Prospects,” has won 2nd place in our 2020 Sales Pro Central MVP Awards Social Selling category!” Here’s what I teach: Prospects have all the answers.

Decision Maker 291

Decision Maker Face-to-face Call-back Gatekeeper 291

Mr. Inside Sales

AUGUST 18, 2023

Establishing rapport with a prospect in the very beginning is perhaps the most important first step to earning the right to have a conversation that might eventually lead to a sale. If your prospect asks you how you are (after you ask them), DON’T just say, “fine” or “good” and then launch into your pitch. Try it and see for yourself!

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Face-to-face How To Gatekeeper Decision Maker 256

Mr. Inside Sales

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

At first, it seemed almost rude to utter it… But let me ask you: out of ten prospects you pitch to, how many end up actually buying? Yep, two out of ten prospects you speak with turn into buyers. It took me years to believe this. And this means that you spend hours each day pitching to people who are never going to buy!

Face-to-face 255

Face-to-face Gatekeeper Decision Maker Licensing 255

Mr. Inside Sales

MARCH 17, 2024

What’s the number one blow off prospects use these days? Not only is it hard to get prospects back on the phone, when you do, you usually lead off with the ineffective opening line of: “Did you have a chance to review that email I sent you?” And then when a prospect blows you off with, “Can you email that to me?”

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Face-to-face Sales Qualified Lead How To Gatekeeper 243

Mr. Inside Sales

OCTOBER 25, 2021

We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Influencer 288

Influencer Decision Maker Face-to-face Gatekeeper 288

Mr. Inside Sales

OCTOBER 30, 2023

If you want more “treats” than “tricks” when dealing with prospects, then be bold and call back sooner than you are now. I don’t know why sales reps always default to: “I’ll call you again in a month…” Or 60 days or 90 days, etc, but why would you want to miss all the sales this prospect will place in the meantime?

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Call-back Face-to-face Follow-up Gatekeeper 240

Mr. Inside Sales

MAY 25, 2024

Who do you think knows why your prospect buys? If you have followed me for a while, you may know that my opinion on whether to ask a prospect, “How are you,” has changed over the years. You can’t tell if your prospect is annoyed, resistant, bothered, or if they are willing to have a conversation with you.

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