Sunday, March 02, 2008

Create Events to Gain Customers

If you have ever put on an event, you know that registration can be very tiring and cumbersome. If it is a large event, you will have a computer system that takes care of the registrations. The Web can also be used for registration just as it can be used to have people register for your newsletter. Event registration on the Web enables you to drive people to your site and then navigate to the registration page. This way they get a taste of who you are and what you do at the same time that they are registering. Unfortunately, not everyone will register from the Web site and you will still need to enter some names by hand. This is not a big task if your anticipated audience is fairly small, but for a larger event you will need to deal with the process differently. Services such as Aceteva.com make the process very simple.

When I was setting up the executive breakfast for my Power Marketing seminar, I had people go to the Power Marketing Web site to register. It was the only option they had. I found that a number of people wanted to register but were not computer savvy enough to navigate the process. I contacted them by e-mail and asked for their information and entered it into the registration form on their behalf. Only a handful of people did not want to do this for themselves.

In the long run, you can also have people pay for events on the Web at the same time. If you do not have the ability to take credit cards over the Web, you can use a payment service such as PayPal. It will take the orders and process the credit cards and even deposit the monies into your bank account.

If you have ever put on an event, you know that registration can be very tiring and cumbersome. If it is a large event, you will have a computer system that takes care of the registrations. The Web can also be used for registration just as it can be used to have people register for your newsletter. Event registration on the Web enables you to drive people to your site and then navigate to the registration page. This way they get a taste of who you are and what you do at the same time that they are registering. Unfortunately, not everyone will register from the Web site and you will still need to enter some names by hand. This is not a big task if your anticipated audience is fairly small, but for a larger event you will need to deal with the process differently. Services such as Aceteva.com make the process very simple.

When I was setting up the executive breakfast for my Power Marketing seminar, I had people go to the Power Marketing Web site to register. It was the only option they had. I found that a number of people wanted to register but were not computer savvy enough to navigate the process. I contacted them by e-mail and asked for their information and entered it into the registration form on their behalf. Only a handful of people did not want to do this for themselves.

In the long run, you can also have people pay for events on the Web at the same time. If you do not have the ability to take credit cards over the Web, you can use a payment service such as PayPal. It will take the orders and process the credit cards and even deposit the monies into your bank account.

Effective Teritory Management Is Not Rocket Science

Many salespeople today will waste a great deal of time calling on poor prospects – trying to turn poor prospects into customers, or trying to close prospects that do not want or need what they are selling.

One of the key characteristics in more effective territory management is doing a better job of qualifying prospects prior to giving them your time, energy or corporate resources.

Let’s look at a few ways to better manage your resource of time and territory management.

1. Ask more effective questions earlier in the sales process.
2. Pay attention to answers to determine whether this is a good time to try and sell this prospect.
3. Develop a customer profile to use as a template for your prospecting.
4. Audit your sales call activity by dividing the number of calls you make in a week by the number of miles you drive in that week. This number will give you your call route effectiveness.
5. Spend more prospecting time getting referrals.
6. Develop strategic alliances to help you improve your prospecting activity.
7. Plan your call activities early in the week, month or day.
8. Don’t give poor prospects more time than they deserve.
9. Get up earlier.
10. Go to bed later.
11. Use this extra time for planning, thinking or evaluating your routines.
12. Develop a daily checklist of what you will need to be effective.
13. Keep accurate sales records. The more information you keep, the better able you will be to spot potential trouble areas.
14. Try to get more of your prospects to visit your location, plant or office.
15. Don’t spend time giving presentations to non-decision makers.

Even if you only do half of these, you will find your time will be better spent and you will experience better overall sales results.

Many salespeople today will waste a great deal of time calling on poor prospects – trying to turn poor prospects into customers, or trying to close prospects that do not want or need what they are selling.

One of the key characteristics in more effective territory management is doing a better job of qualifying prospects prior to giving them your time, energy or corporate resources.

Let’s look at a few ways to better manage your resource of time and territory management.

1. Ask more effective questions earlier in the sales process.
2. Pay attention to answers to determine whether this is a good time to try and sell this prospect.
3. Develop a customer profile to use as a template for your prospecting.
4. Audit your sales call activity by dividing the number of calls you make in a week by the number of miles you drive in that week. This number will give you your call route effectiveness.
5. Spend more prospecting time getting referrals.
6. Develop strategic alliances to help you improve your prospecting activity.
7. Plan your call activities early in the week, month or day.
8. Don’t give poor prospects more time than they deserve.
9. Get up earlier.
10. Go to bed later.
11. Use this extra time for planning, thinking or evaluating your routines.
12. Develop a daily checklist of what you will need to be effective.
13. Keep accurate sales records. The more information you keep, the better able you will be to spot potential trouble areas.
14. Try to get more of your prospects to visit your location, plant or office.
15. Don’t spend time giving presentations to non-decision makers.

Even if you only do half of these, you will find your time will be better spent and you will experience better overall sales results.