Month: November 2010

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STEP 1: WARM EMAILS THAT ASK FOR REFERRALS.

Ok so where to start? It’s hard to just dive into cold calls, even warm calls so I suggest the warm email to your advocates. So who are your advocates? In business they are past and present clients, associates, vendors and partners that would actively refer you business if the opportunity arose. In personal life they are the people that believe in you and know your character qualities. Make a list of those people and draft an outline of your email, here is my outline:

Still playing Volleyball? (Subject specific to Bob)

Bob,

Hey I was playing ball last week I ran into Susie and your name came up……(personal message)

• I don’t know if you heard but I got blind sided with an emergency that took me out of commission for 11 months! So I’m taking the first step and getting back out there, meeting people and making connections, sales (helping). So I am asking for referrals, leads, starting points etc. You never know where new business will come from and no new connection or meeting is a waste of time.

Do you have any suggestions or referrals that could turn a cold call into a warm call? Any names leads or contacts would be very helpful.

Let me know if I can say that you gave me their contact info, or if you just think that there are a few you think would be a good fit that I should call without your connection that would be great too.

Thanks for your help, friendship and your business

Dan

ps. would love to do coffee in the next few weeks.


So that was my draft, the key here is that you have to write each and every e-mail, NEVER SEND OUT SPAM!!!! Every email has to be specific to every person you send it to, subject and content, the outline is only an outline.

RESULTS:
I had a 100% response rate with approximately 70% of my advocates sending 3 or more contacts in their response e-mail, plus, to my surprise most of them even took the time to personally make the e-mail introduction to their contacts for me. In the first two weeks after the warm emails, I had landed an A list account. At week 5 I am still booking all the new meetings.

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Santa’s Even Bigger Than Coke!

Santa’s even bigger than Coke!

As Forbes put it: “He runs a multinational enterprise that combines uncanny customer intelligence, superb information management and world-class service. He leads a logistical tour de force that spans the globe and delivers the goods, just in time. And he does it all with a warm – some would say jolly – panache that is impossible to forget. His name: Santa Claus.” Santa’s Identity is so powerful that Best Global Brand of 2006, Coca-Cola (brand evaluated at 67-billion dollars by Interbrand) could not hold him back.

Little known to most is that 2006 was the 75 anniversary of the famous Coca-Cola Santa that was created in 1931. Before this makeover Santas image was loosely based on a combination of many ideas. In 1931 Coke commissioned the illustrator Haddon Sundblom to create an Image of Santa for their new advertising campaign and Santa has looked the same ever since.

Today Santa is ubiquitous, no one remembers that Santa and Coke were at one time partners, as a matter of arguable fact, Santa’s even bigger than Coke! He is the envy of Identity Engineers, brand managers, marketing professionals and students worldwide.

Take a look at Santa’s brand, he represents hard work, reward, and goodness. He is a jolly, fair, and giving person, his generosity is contagious. He is a global leader in the category of Hope, and he has a consistent delivery of this brand promise. He knows his customer so well…..he knows when they are sleeping and he knows when their awake. He makes them feel special. Santa is the king of consistency, he wears the same red outfit every year, he doesn’t try to change it and he’s never tempted to go on a diet.

Santa has never spent a penny on advertising, he fully understands the Customer Journey, he has advocates in place (parents) who start managing the journey right from their childrens very first christmas, even if, heaven forbid, parents stop believing, they will continue to advocate because they know they will benefit from their childrens good behavior. He is bar none, the worlds most sought after spokesperson every brand wants to associate with him. Everyone supports his mission and he is in a large part responsible for hundreds of billions in sales and charitable donations every year.

So what can we learn from this? I believe William Arruda said it best “take some tips from the man in the red suit. Stand out. Be consistent. Create an emotional connection. Remain visible to your target audience. And don’t forget to surround yourself with brand evangelists who can carry your message for you. Whether you believe in him or not, Santa is a model for branding that we can all strive to attain.”

Merry Christmas!

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Back to the basics of Sales (HELPING).

Returning to the office after a year of struggling through a family emergency, I realized that It was quite a bit harder to get back into it than I thought. The confidence level was down and my personal well of contacts leads and inquiries had all but dried up. It was like starting all over again, except this time I had the tools. The question being, do the tools work? Well as the President of the company I have been writing, talking, teaching, and preaching sales (what we call HELPING) for the last 12 years. The fact is, I haven’t actually been involved much in our sales for years now….too busy, someone else’s job, excuse, excuse, excuse. So as of today I’m going to put my money where my mouth is and practice what I preach. What’s in it for you? Well I’m going to blog about it and try to be as honest as possible. They may not be the most eloquent posts, or well written (sorry mom), but it will motivate me and hopefully HELP others at the same time.

Step 1: Warm Emails that ask for Referrals.