Getting yourself upbeat when Cold-Calling!

Having a bad day in cold-calling / prospecting? Wishing to have a meaningful conversation with someone on how your product / services are helping them overcome challenges faced in their industry?  If you are going through one of those 'down' feelings' - you need a bit of 'time-out therapy'.  I call it 'time-out therapy' because it is a moment of pause to get you out of the cycle of having low energy levels and add a strong dose of feeling 'high'.  

Many of us don't realize that while we are focused and disciplined in our work - we lose that sense of contentment - the feeling that you are so happy and satisfied with everything around you, that you can't be more thankful for all the blessings that have bestowed upon you. Might sound crazy - but it works!  If you don’t believe reflect on this - when you are getting service, would you like to receive it from a grumpy expression or one that is beaming ear-to-ear with a smile?  Money is a big driver for salespeople - but we all subconsciously gravitate towards happiness more than money.  I know many will disagree with this statement - but I think suffice to say we all seek inner and outer happiness and probably a big way to achieve it is by money.

How to achieve the expression of happiness / contentment

There are several ways of doing this, here are a few:

• Music - music can lead us feeling happy or giving that high.  It’s kind of like being at a club on Saturday nights where everybody is happy and cheerful
• Go for a walk with someone - might sound bizarre, but going out for a walk with a friend and just talking (or sharing of energy) with each other helps out provided you each encourage one another.  Smokers really benefit from this as each time they go out they recharge themselves.
• Read / watch an interesting article - I always have something as a back-up to motivate me and keep me going, one of my most favorite pieces to watch is Napoleon Hill’s Laws of Success, here is a link to it in case you are interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS9c60wVNSA

Are all these methods the right ones?  No not really, try to find your own ones too.  

I hope I have helped you out in raising your spirits and joyfulness in cold-calling.  Enjoy the moment you are in and try to get back into the groove!

Growing an Effective Pipeline - WORK SMART!

Hi Folks - well it's been a while (actually nearly a year) since I last provided an update - I have been busy with a new job that I began at IBM and haven't had a chance to update my blog.  So, I'll start off on working to towards this:

Replenish your pipeline

It's all coming down to the last wire - it's the end of quarter and every sales rep is worried about how the quarter is going to end.  In the tough North American  economy which grows at a very slow pace sales growth is a hard thing to come by as you are focused on closing.  Too many of us forget to replenish our pipeline so we can ensure continuous sales growth for the future quarters.  

This is easier said than done - but why is that?  Well - a lot has to do with where you are in the economy.  Is your product what I call a mature product in a mature economy?  Or is it a cutting edge product in an emerging economy?  What do they mean?  

Mature vs. Emerging Economy

Well, mature economy is one that would be classified as a developed one averaging growth rates of approximately 1-3% per year whereas an emerging economy would be one that would be getting more than 5% growth per year.   Examples of a mature economy are Canada, United States, Japan, etc.  while an emerging economy would be Indonesia, China, India, etc.

Mature vs. Up-coming Product

What I would call a mature product is one that has a high percentage of saturation or market penetration - your growth for sales in these would be relatively low.  While a cutting edge product would experience higher growth.  Examples of a mature product would be selling cellphones an upcoming product would be a smartphone.  

Why is this important to know?

Well look at the table below -

New pipeline focus	Cutting edge product	Mature product
Emerging market	Low	Medium
Mature market	Medium	High

Once you know which territory you are calling into (mature or emerging) and the category of the product you are selling (cutting edge and mature) - you can then determine the percentage of time you need to devote on prospecting.  Keep this in mind and try to keep yourself focused.

Good luck and all the best in selling / prospecting!