Sunday, May 20, 2007
The Cold Call Culture
This post is stimulated by messages posted in the Sales Practice Forum lamenting about Cold Calls and ab recent article I came across in HBRs Managing Diversity by, David A Thomas and Robin J Ely. "Making Differences Matter…A New paradigm for managing diversity" it says
The leadership must understand that a diverse workforce will embody different perspective and approaches to work, and must truly value variety of opinion and insight. We know of a financial services company that once assumed that the only successful sales model was one that utilized aggressive , rapid-fire cold calls. (Indeed, it incentive system rewarded salespeople in lare part for the number of calls made.) An internal review of the company’s diversity initiatives, however, showed that the company’s first ad third most profitable employees were women who were most likely to use a sales technique based on slow but sure building of relationships. The company’s top management has now made the link between different identity groups and different approaches to how work is done to get the best results.
It makes me understand that sales practices are not only affected by cultural differences between countries...they are perhaps more influenced by cultures within companies.
Also see article about the Fuller Brush Culture.
Read more!
The leadership must understand that a diverse workforce will embody different perspective and approaches to work, and must truly value variety of opinion and insight. We know of a financial services company that once assumed that the only successful sales model was one that utilized aggressive , rapid-fire cold calls. (Indeed, it incentive system rewarded salespeople in lare part for the number of calls made.) An internal review of the company’s diversity initiatives, however, showed that the company’s first ad third most profitable employees were women who were most likely to use a sales technique based on slow but sure building of relationships. The company’s top management has now made the link between different identity groups and different approaches to how work is done to get the best results.
It makes me understand that sales practices are not only affected by cultural differences between countries...they are perhaps more influenced by cultures within companies.
Also see article about the Fuller Brush Culture.
Read more!
Monday, May 07, 2007
The Key Difference Between Networking and Selling
Having a good network is a vital resource for any business person. For many people networking is their primary source of business. Yet most people get very little benefit from their efforts. They attend networking events and collect dozens of business cards from people who are not qualified prospects. This feels like progress, perhaps it even feels like work, but unless these contacts are likely to become prospects it's pretty much a waste of time.
As a result, this kind of networking yields modest results and is usually cover for a broken or non-existent marketing process.
To network effectively you have to fish where the fish are. Where are you likely to meet prospects for your business? What do you want them to do? Once you know the answer to these questions focus your attention on relevant venues where you can find people who can move you toward your goals.
When you find people you want to do business with, you had better not network with them, this is the time to start selling.
Networking is far more passive and does not generally put bread on the table. Selling is understanding peoples problems and offering them a solution that they will pay you for.
If you confuse networking with selling you will almost certainly end up earning less than you should.
Source: Submit Articles at ArticlesBase.com
About the Author:
Michael Hepworth is the StreetSmart Marketer and a Toronto strategic marketing consultant , you can receive his free marketing advice at http://www.streetsmartmarketer.com/.
Read more!
As a result, this kind of networking yields modest results and is usually cover for a broken or non-existent marketing process.
To network effectively you have to fish where the fish are. Where are you likely to meet prospects for your business? What do you want them to do? Once you know the answer to these questions focus your attention on relevant venues where you can find people who can move you toward your goals.
When you find people you want to do business with, you had better not network with them, this is the time to start selling.
Networking is far more passive and does not generally put bread on the table. Selling is understanding peoples problems and offering them a solution that they will pay you for.
If you confuse networking with selling you will almost certainly end up earning less than you should.
Source: Submit Articles at ArticlesBase.com
About the Author:
Michael Hepworth is the StreetSmart Marketer and a Toronto strategic marketing consultant , you can receive his free marketing advice at http://www.streetsmartmarketer.com/.
Read more!
