Wed, 15 June 2016
Could a killer outbound sales strategy take your agency to a whole other level in how you perform and the clients you attract? In today’s episode, we’ll cover:
Today’s guest, Gene Hammett, knows a thing or two about outbound sales. He used to be my agency’s VP of Sales and scored us meetings with huge brands like Home Depot and Porsche just to name a few. He’s now using his knowledge and experience as a writer, speaker and Strategic Coach for competitive service-based businesses. Gene also hosts Leaders In the Trenches, a podcast for entrepreneurs. Gene recently turned one of his coaching strategies on himself and created a 10-Day, 100 Call Challenge. He’s seeing some fantastic results and shared all the details with us. Why is a Outbound Sales Strategy Beneficial?Having an outbound sales strategy has been lost and forgotten. So many business focus solely on lead generation and ways to amplify inbound sales. As business owners, we can’t always expect leads to come to us. Sometimes we have to approach them first and ask for their business. Outbound sales doesn't have to mean cold calls, though. It means defining a criteria for who you want to work with and then seeking them out to showcase your offering. Gene’s self-imposed 100 Call Challenge is a way to re-introduce outbound sales strategy efforts back into your agency. What is the 100 Call Challenge?Most people think it’s 100 cold calls and dread the thought of it. But really, it’s a commitment to having 100 conversations. Gene breaks his goal setting down into annual, quarterly, monthly and then two week increments. For the first two weeks of February 2016 he decided he needed a jolt in his business - something drastic to stir things up. That’s when he implemented the 100 Call Challenge. The results?
4 Steps for setting up a successful 100 Call Challenge:1- Decide what you have to offer.You can’t just start making sales calls to set up appointments. Major turn off. Time is valuable. So if you’re going to ask people for their time, you better have something super valuable to offer in return. Think of reasons why prospects might want to spend time with you. What can you offer in exchange for an hour of their time?
2- Mindset is KEY.Gene has no hesitation in making phone calls and no fear of cold calling. (That’s how he scored my agency with meetings with huge brands!) But what he has come to realize is that he wasn’t making time to make calls. He was making excuses. Gene’s advice is to get over your hang ups. (Pun intended!:) ) Have the courage to create what you want. It’s easy to settle for status quo. You have to find your “everyday courage” which sits inside every one of us but becomes dormant as we get comfortable. Push yourself to go outside that comfort zone. No excuses. 3- Establish initiatives.For Gene, the goals were revenue-based and he set a two-week time period in order to reach them. He decided there were 3 routes to achieve his revenue target:
What are your desired results? How can you get there? Be specific and make sure it’s something you can measure. Hold yourself accountable to the timeline and results. 4- Pull the trigger.If you’re making 100 calls in 10 days commit to roughly 10 calls per day. Even if you’re out of the office. No excuses! Here’s how Gene implemented his three-fold plan:
Revelations from a 100 Call Challenge:Not only did Gene experience great results, he’s was able to reflect back on the experience and to share some learning from it, too...
Want to read more about how you can improve your agency and yourself as an agency owner? You can read our blogs that cover a wide variety of topics or if videos are more your thing, visit my Youtube channel!
Direct download: A_KILLER_Outbound_Sales_Strategy_for_New_Agency_Business.mp3
Category:#PODCAST -- posted at: 5:00am MDT |