Streetfighter Selling

It’s been 90+ this week across most of the U. S. Summer’s finally here! (Here in Wisconsin, summer starts when the local weather reporters stop telling us we’re miserable from the wind chill and start telling us we’re miserable from the heat index!)

Summertime.…and there are a lot of things a Streetfighter can do to take advantage of it. One example, if you’ve got local customers, drop off a case of ice cold soft drinks for their staff. No meeting. No pitch. No sell, Just ice cold refreshment. Why? Because it shows you that
a) you care, and
b) you’re thinking of them.
It’s a small thing…. but huge in your customer’s mind.

So stay cool…but keep your sales activity HOT.

One of the hot topics in selling is Social Networking & Marketing. Social networking platforms are numerous and, no doubt, you’re familiar with or even active in one or more…including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or blogging. While it should not take you away from face-to-face calls and follow-up, it CAN be a HUGE asset to building YOUR business, and helping customers build THEIRS so, if you haven’t already, now’s the time to kick start your own social networking system. (And remember the most important part….they’re FREE.)

One example is LinkedIn. Think of LinkedIn as networking on steroids. (Here’s mine, as an example.)

At www.linkedin.com, you pass through a simple sign-up process and you’re ready to start. A simple, step-by-step process walks you through adding your company, website, expertise, experience, specialties, even your picture or avatar. Now, you can link this online resume to co-workers, associates, friends, and business groups. You can stay top-of-mind with current customers who are also linkedin, plus you can be seen by prospective customers who are linked to you through mutual acquaintances. Skilled users can use extra features…like conducting brief online surveys (which can help you take the pulse of your customers while positioning you as an expert).

But don’t go looking for quick results. Social Networking has to be one component in your living, breathing, online networking strategy. The key, of course, is to get started, and it’s OK to start small. Get started, then give it some daily attention. Expand your personal profile or ‘resume’ before you start inviting associates to connect with you. Just using and exploring Linkedin will give you a better understanding of it’s features. Before you know it you’ll be a savvy networker.

Want to get more, quality appointments with those hard-to-reach decision-makers? There’s no silver bullet method, but there are specific steps you can take to greatly improve your success.

At any given time, our customers are dealing with up to three major issues. (There are more, of course, but three that dominate their daily thoughts.) Issues like cutting costs, boosting productivity, keeping the boss happy, personal problems, and so forth. Whatever the issue, if you can’t help, they’re not interested.

But, if you’ve identified them as high-value prospects, here are some steps that can help get you in the door:

Uncover current issues
Do some digging. Scour the business news, their web site, local events. What’s happening at their business, their area or their industry? Talk to their associates or employees. These can point to hot topics that can be included in your reason for calling. Now, rather than making what we call a ‘blank call,’ with no specific content, you can address a more specific need (eg: “….we’ve helped with new product roll-outs and I know you’re introducing three new lines this fall.”)

Get introduced
No ‘strategy’ can beat getting introduced by a mutual contact. Who do they know that you know, too? In business or service groups? Chances are your connection is right there. Get to know people, and (stealing from Covey here) expand your ‘circle of influence.” Social networking tools, like LinkedIn, are making this more effective than ever.

I’ll cover more on LinkedIn, and other step-by-step strategies, in the coming weeks.

*in telephone sales, the goal is the conversation, but the steps are very much the same.