Judy Frank, Author at Vortexology

April 13, 2016 by Judy Frank

4 Signs That You Don’t Have a Sales Process

Allow me to share with you a conversation I’ve had more times than I can count. It’s a conversation I often have with my sales coaching clients, usually in one of our first coaching sessions. It goes a little something like this:

Me: Do you have a sales process?

Sales coaching client: Yes. It’s a process I’ve developed myself over the years.

Me: Great. Could you walk me through it step-by-step?

Sales coaching client: Sure thing. [prolonged silence] Well…let’s see…..um…

Your process is arguably one of the most important components of your sales success. It’s as important as your product, your marketing efforts, and even your ability to prospect and close. [Read more…]

March 29, 2016 by Judy Frank

How to Send Follow-Up Emails That Spur Action

Hi,

Just wanted to check-in and see……

Does this sound familiar? If so, stop what you’re doing. Don’t send another follow-up email until you finish this article.

For many salespeople, the follow-up email is a thoughtless exercise. They know they need to follow up, so they churn out a quick email and hit the send button. They then check the “follow-up” box off the list and move one with their day.

Other salespeople take the exact opposite approach. They agonize over every word, hoping to strike a balance between inciting action and being too pushy. In the end, they settle on some variation of the dreaded “just checking in.”

“Just checking in” rarely incites action. At best, it’s an email that’s briefly glanced at. At worst, it’s viewed as an annoyance.

The perfect follow-up email strengthens your relationship with the prospect and advances the sales process. It lets your prospect know that you want to move forward and it gives them clear direction on how to take the next step.

Want to strengthen your follow-up emails? Take a look at the four-step process below for creating a follow-up that grabs your prospect’s attention and gets results: [Read more…]

March 2, 2016 by Judy Frank

Fail, Learn, Repeat: 4 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Failed Sales Proposals

I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. – Michael Jordan

Failure is a part of sales. It’s inevitable. If you’re a veteran, you have probably failed more times than you can remember. If you’re a newbie, it’s going to happen, probably sooner rather than later. Failure

As any successful salesperson will tell you, though, failure is actually a good thing. The only way you can get better is by learning where you’ve gone wrong. And one of the best ways to uncover areas for improvement is by failing.

Of course, you can only learn from failure by being introspective. What went wrong? What could you have done differently or better? It can be hard, and sometimes downright impossible, to objectively critique your own performance. Having a coach or mentor may help. Either way, a failure can only be helpful if you’re willing to acknowledge it, accept responsibility, and look for ways to improve. [Read more…]

February 25, 2016 by Judy Frank

Back to the Well: 3 Steps to Sell More to Existing Clients

There may be no better source for new revenue than your existing client base. Why? Because you’ve already sold to them once. They know you. You earned their trust and they value your service. At least, they did when they initially came on board. That means you have some common ground on which you can close your next big deal. selltoclients

However, just because you sealed the deal once doesn’t mean that your clients will jump at the chance to buy a new product or service from you. They may not be happy with the service they’ve received. Or they may not getting the results they expected from your original deal. It’s also possible that they simply don’t have the budget, bandwidth, or inclination to commit to new business with you.

To capture more business from your existing clients, you’ll have to overcome those obstacles. Not sure where to start? Don’t worry. I have a simple three-step process below that will help you systematically prospect your current client base and win new business. Check out the steps below and then integrate them into your process: [Read more…]

February 4, 2016 by Judy Frank

Salesperson to Sales Manager: 3 Coaching lessons you can learn from Steve Kerr

So you were promoted from salesperson to sales manager. A promotion is always a good thing. It’s recognition and confirmation of your hard work, and it may be a critical next step on your career arc.

For many new sales managers, though, the elevation from individual salesperson to team leader also presents a bit of a challenge. After all, when you were a salesperson you were probably only responsible for your own goals, your own activities, and your own behaviors. Your success or failure was based on your efforts, and yours alone. Steve_kerr

Now you’re being judged based on the success of others. Even worse, they may not do things the way you would do them. You might be able to see their challenges and areas for improvement, but they might not get it.

That’s one of the big reasons why great athletes rarely make great coaches. Look back through sports history. Every league is littered with former greats who didn’t cut it as coaches. Magic Johnson. Wayne Gretzky. Mike Singletary. Isiah Thomas. This list goes on and on. [Read more…]