THE KILLER OF DREAMS

thinking and results feedback loopAs all of you can guess, especially if you have followed me for a while, I constantly challenge the status quo. More importantly, why are you not?

“The existing state of affairs.” is how the status quo is defined. It is interesting to note that the synonyms are ‘normalcy and normality.’ Also, one of the examples given is: “He is content with the ‘status quo and does not like change.” That is why I continually challenge the status quo; who wants to stay the same?

By challenging ‘normalcy’ it allows us to have an opportunity to have conversations about what is truly going on and how it may not be serving us anymore. Moreover, in today’s society, without challenging it one will find themselves always at least three steps behind the rest of society.

OH, THE POSSIBILITIES!

Them: “Yopossibillitiesu are not going for it, are you?”

Me: “Why not?”

Them: “What if it blows up in your face and you have nothing?”

Me: “What if it doesn’t blow up and I have everything?”

How many successful people do you know that are negative thinkers and afraid of taking risks? How many people who are always thinking anything new is impossible have been able to achieve great things? Let me answer those questions for you, none.

VERBALLY VOMITING ON YOUR PROSPECTS

VERBAL VOMITAs most of you know, I am a voracious reader and I love to read business books primarily to do with leadership and business development.

I recently picked up a book on a new sales program and how to implement it. With most of these books, I can glean a nugget or two and think about it how it can enhance my own program. This book, not so much.

However, I took the book and read the part where it stated what you should do if someone asks: “What do you do?” After reading the two paragraphs to my group in The Action Suite, there were some interesting reactions.

BEST TIME TO MAKE THE CALL

making the callI have been asked many times: “Joe, when is it the best time to make a cold call?”

Dr. James Oldroyd, from the Kellog School of Management in studying over a million cold calls from approximately 50 companies came up with a few observations:

  • Thursdays are the best day to call.
  • Friday is the worst day to call.
  • Between 8 am and 9 am are the best followed by 4 pm to 5 pm.
  • The worst time to call is between 1 pm and 2 pm.

With all due respect to Dr. Oldroyd, I am going to have to disagree for the following reasons:

  • How many industries were the 50 companies in? Was there a good cross section from high end IT products, to manufacturing machinery as well as simple commodity retail products?
  • Is the best day and time to call dependent on industry-specific organizations or even the level of the person that you may be attempting to connect with? By the way, if you are trying to connect with the purchasing agent, you are wasting your time. Therefore, stop it!
  • Was there consistency as to the objective/outcome for making the call.

I would like to provide a concept of the best time and day to place a call. What opportunities are you uncovering by not making the call? Go ahead take a minute to think of the answer. Right, there are no bad times or days to make calls. However, there are really bad times and days for not making the calls.

This goes also for special times of the year. I would like to share a personal story. Back in my corporate life my team and I were selling construction marking and measuring systems and commodity items. The summer months were thought of as a dead time as everyone had already purchased everything they needed and were being productive at work and further, had no time to talk to us. Generally speaking, September was the next time that everyone got a big rush of orders to get the projects done before the weather closed it down.

Summertime is where my team and I put the pedal to the metal for a couple of reasons:

  • First, everyone always runs out of something and as long as you are front of mind they will always call you first.
  • Secondly, because you were there during the summer and planted all the seeds, who do you think they are calling in September for the big fill in last push order?

We did exactly the same thing over the Christmas holiday period. When it came time to start up again, who do you think they called? Also, a lot of companies have leftover budgets that they need to spend at the end of the year, but how many of us fall into the trap of: “There is no business over Christmas.” Decembers were some of my highest months throughout my career.

You will never know the right day or time for your industry unless you actually make the call. However, make sure you are ready to make the call. If you waste their time and have no objective or goal for the call, all you will do is annoy a potential client. Is that something you really want to do?

We invite you to join The Action Suite to make sure you are prepared as you can be to make the call that has to be made in order to turn that prospect into a happy, loyal and satisfied client.

By the way, the answer to the question asked at the beginning is always: “Right now.”

COLD CALLING EMAIL TIPS

emailIsn’t technology grand? Yes, it is. Unless, if by using it you are getting ignored.

One of the most used tactics today in using technology is, using emails as a way of performing ‘cold calls’. Hands up of those of us who actually enjoy getting these emails? Okay, then what makes you think anyone would like to receive these emails from you?

THE 5 SIMPLE STEPS FOR TAKING ACTION

action_origI have observed that there has been a lot of wishing, praying and hoping going on today and a lot less of planning, doing and being.  In other words, a vast number want to accomplish, or, do something, but take absolutely no ‘action’ to make it a reality.

There has been a lot written in the past about this without giving some clear direction as to what one can do in order to make taking ‘action’ easier.