Calendar Every Next Step in Sales
In the fast-paced world of sales, staying organized is essential for success. A well-structured calendar can be the difference between closing deals and missing opportunities. Here’s how to effectively calendar every next step in your sales process. Define Your Sales...
Buyers Are Liars: The Truth Behind the Phrase
The phrase "buyers are liars" is a common adage in the sales world, often used by salespeople to express their frustration with customers who seem to misrepresent their intentions. While it may sound harsh, the phrase reflects a reality that many in sales encounter:...
Importance of Mindset in Sales
In the competitive world of sales, success often hinges not only on product knowledge and strategy but also on mindset. How sales professionals perceive challenges, approach opportunities, and handle rejections can significantly impact their overall performance....
The Power of Softening Statements in Sales
In the fast-paced world of sales, where every word can make or break a deal, the art of softening statements is important to master. Softening statements are verbal techniques used to lesson potential resistance or objection from clients or prospects. They serve as...
The Art of Persuasion: Applying Psychology with Sales Techniques
Understanding human psychology can be a game-changer in sales. Sales is not just about pitching a product or service; it's about connecting with people on a deeper level and influencing their decisions. By applying principles of psychology to sales techniques,...
Decoding Sales Ethics: OK vs. Not-OK Practices
In the dynamic world of sales, success is often determined by a combination of strategy, skill, and ethical conduct. While there are countless approaches to selling, not all methods are created equal. Some practices can yield positive results in the short term but may...
Celebrating International Women’s Day
Every year, on March 8th, the world comes together to celebrate International Women's Day, a day dedicated to honoring the achievements of women and advocating for gender equality. It's a day to recognize the immense contributions of women in every aspect of society –...
Business Etiquette: 6 Suggestions for Salespeople
There is no lack of lists of supposedly “unbreakable” business etiquette rules. The role of etiquette is to help us have smooth, respectful interactions with others. Salespeople can be particularly challenged by this because, in reality, customs may change from...
What is Combo Prospecting?
At a recent Sandler Training Session, I was inspired by a Sandler trainer, Emily Yepes, who spoke about the challenges of prospecting. In this competitive environment, we all need to “up our game” to reach the prospects we believe we can help. Prospecting is often...
When Being Negative is Positive
I’ve written before about the benefits of getting to ‘no' quickly. As I wrote in my last blog, the more no’s you hear, the closer you get to ‘yes.’ But you may have challenging prospects that thwart your efforts. For example, they drag their feet on making a decision,...
No Means You’re Closer to Yes
There isn’t a successful salesperson out there who hasn’t heard the word “NO” much more than they’ve heard the word “YES.” I’ve written before about how salespeople are in the business of “NO” because they hear it so much. This makes sense to me because not everyone...
Maximizing Peaks and Minimizing Valleys in Sales
I meet periodically with a group of professional salespeople who are dedicated to sharpening their sales skills using the Sandler Selling Methodology. In the most recent session, we discussed something we all see at times – the peaks and valleys of sales. We’ve all...
The Value of Being ‘Top of Mind’
Recently, I attended a group meeting with other sales experts focused on sales growth and best practices. They suggested a simple challenge: see what happens when you pick three prospects that you haven’t spoken to in several months and reach out just to reconnect. I...
Cold Calling vs. “Dropping In”
When it comes to lead generation and closing new business, it’s probably not going to be a surprise to hear me say that I believe that cold calling is a critical component. I have had potential clients challenge me, asking: “Why not just ‘drop in’ to a likely...
Does Cold Calling Work?
Businesses that consider using call calling often ask questions about its effectiveness. At One of a Kind Sales, having made thousands of cold calls, we can attest to its effectiveness in generating leads. But I recently came across some statistics from the RAIN...
Cold Calling Is About More Than Making a Sale
When people think about cold calling, they envision an aggressive phone call in which the caller pressures the person on the other end of the line into making a purchase. To me, this is the worst example of cold calling. This is what gives cold calling a bad name. One...
Becoming Resilient in Sales
Have you ever been in a sales slump? I think all of us have at some point. But one of the things that I’ve realized over the years is that how we think about these situations and how we speak about them makes a real difference in how resilient we are. Ultimately, our...
Sales Objections: 5 Steps to Get to the Heart of the Matter
Salespeople who are addressing complex customer challenges can spend a great deal of time anticipating and handling objections. In my experience, I’ve seen that the skill it takes to identify and address objections varies widely across salespeople. Here are the steps...
Are You Communicating Your Value? Three Checkpoints to Assess
As a salesperson how you manage your business can communicate volumes about how you perceive your role and the solutions you offer. Ideally, a salesperson should be perceived as having a strong conviction that they are offering something of value to clients. Also,...
Why We Do What We Do
As part of our bi-weekly Sandler training, we reviewed and discussed a video from Simon Sinek, leadership expert and author of several best-selling books, including Start with Why. One of the key takeaways in our class was that when most businesses describe their...
The Power of Investing in Yourself: Sandler Sales Summit 2023
I’m feeling revitalized! I just returned from the annual Sandler Sales Leadership Summit in Orlando. I’ve been a proponent and student of the Sandler Selling System for the past 10 years. Each year I have attended this particular summit. Why? Because I always come...
5 Steps to a Motivated Sales Team
Salespeople hear the word “NO” often, and that can be very demotivating. If your business depends on a sales team for growth, it’s important to ensure that the team can weather those disappointments and not lose momentum. Cold calling, in particular, is one of the...
Ask for the Referral
Picture this: you’re having a conversation with a prospect and you realize that your solution is not something that they need at this time. You might be able to help them later but right now the conversation is not going to progress. You end the conversation...
“Cold Calling” vs. “Social Selling” – Which is Better?
Recently I’ve heard a lot about the value of Social Selling - a process that involves connecting and interacting with prospects on social media platforms. The objective is to create a relationship first and not to sell your product or service at the time of...
The Best Opener for a Cold Call Is Not How Are You
I recently came across an article on the CNBC website that suggested that we stop asking people “how are you?” when we’re making small talk. I focused on it because I agree. Even Harvard researchers say that “How are you?” is among the most useless statements that you...
When Your Prospect Tells You Your Price is Too High
It’s always disconcerting when a prospect tells you that your price is too high. As a best practice, you shouldn’t even get to the topic of price until late in the sales engagement. By the time price is mentioned, you would have confirmed the prospect’s needs and...
Should You Answer a Question with a Question?
“Answer a question with a question” is a Sandler Selling System rule that is sometimes controversial. Sales teams I’ve worked with often express the concern that using this approach could lead to them appearing evasive or “too salesy”. But as with all “rules” you...
What to Do When They are “Thinking About It”
I was recently at a meeting about sales efficiency where a debate broke out about what salespeople should do when a prospect says, “I’ll think about it.” Participants were divided. Some felt that this meant that the selling process was not complete and they should...
What Leads to a Successful Sale?
A quiz for you: Communicating your expertise and product knowledge to your prospect leads to a successful sale: 1/ True 2/ False I came across this question in a session with a world-class expert in the Sandler selling method. This is one that can spark a lot of...
Four Easy Steps to Closing More Business by Nancy Calabrese
As business owners, we all want to grow by winning new clients. But many of us find it difficult to “convert” new opportunities into paying clients. This leads to frustration. In my 20+ years of experience as a sales professional, I’ve observed that many business...
Why I Attended Outbound 2022
A couple of weeks ago, I attended Outbound 2022 in Atlanta. Outbound is self-described as “the biggest, baddest conference in the Sales Profession.” Outbound is unique because it’s the only conference focused exclusively on “sales prospecting, pipeline, and...
What Drives Sales Leadership Success?
Recently, I had a discussion with a sales leader who told me that she believes her success - and that of her team - is primarily determined by the sales compensation plan. While this may play a strong role, in my experience, sales leaders need to engage in three...
What to Expect from a Professional Appointment Setting Campaign
When seeking more qualified appointments for their sales team, many businesses outsource to an appointment setting service. These services focus on the “pre-sales” process, which includes implementing professional telemarketing campaigns designed to prospect from a...
Three Tips to Handle Objections
For many inexperienced salespeople, the first thing they think about when it comes to selling a product or service is the fact that they will hear objections. They dread the word “no” and try to avoid objections even when they can clearly see that they exist. They...
Six Steps to Improve Your Cold Calling Results
One of the most challenging parts of selling is cold calling. Like all of us, salespeople dislike rejection and don’t want to hear the word “no.” And many have never been trained how to do cold calling. As a result, many salespeople find cold calling intimidating....
Making Closing Easier
Closing new business is the main objective of professional salespeople. Everyone knows sales is a challenging career. To outsiders who know little about sales, closing new business seems to be the hardest part- a mysterious technique that is often unsuccessful. But...
How to Get More Qualified Leads
Have you had the experience of meeting with a prospect and gradually discovering that the “ideal” prospect is not ideal at all? Afterwards, you may feel like you’ve wasted your time and energy. If you’re leading a sales team who has been experiencing this, not only...
Summer Cold Callers’ Jumpstart
This time of year, when I tell people I’m a cold calling expert, they often comment, ‘well this must be a tough season for you and your team because it’s summer.’ This belief that everyone is on vacation and decisions are not being made is a common misperception. In...
Selling Preparedness Equals Selling Success
Memorial Day is often thought of as the official start of summer - and depending on where you live, it’s also the official start of hurricane season. If you live in one of these hurricane-prone areas, this is the time of year that officials start reminding residents...
It’s All About Them
At One of a Kind Sales, I lead a team that does cold calling of prospects to set up initial meetings for our clients. Companies like ours often use one of two methods to accomplish this: either the ‘features and benefits’ approach or the consultative selling method. I...
Disappearing Act
What do you do when you have a qualified prospect that gives every indication that they want your solution but they suddenly disappear? It seems like they’ve fallen off the face of the earth. They don’t respond to calls, texts, or emails. I’m sure many of us...
3 Proven Techniques to Advance the Sale
My team and I make sales calls every day. We focus on building a relationship of trust with a prospect while moving towards the close. To accomplish this, we use customized scripts that we’ve internalized, as well as a variety of proven sales techniques. There are...
Selling is Not a Race to the Finish
I know the feeling. You’ve got the prospect on the phone, and you’ve confirmed that they likely have a problem you can solve. You’ve secured the appointment. And then you think to yourself: ‘why not just give them a little preview and see if you can get them even more...
Self-Care for Cold Callers – Part 2
Cold callers are faced with challenges every day. In our previous blog (Part 1), we suggested tips that cold callers can use to manage their well-being: leveraging training to be as prepared as possible, focusing on learning opportunities as they make calls...
Self-Care for Cold Callers – Part 1
Recently, I’ve seen a lot of articles about self-care. Why? Probably because of the pandemic and the additional STRESS we have experienced dealing with a situation that is out of our control. Often these articles are about “self-care for parents,” or “self-care for...
Drumroll Please – Our End of Year Survey Results are IN
In this post, I will show you the results of our End of Year, 2021 Prospecting Survey and share my takeaways. First, a big thank you to everyone who participated - I truly appreciate your taking the time to share your experience! The Survey The survey was short,...
What Everybody Needs to Know About Cold Calling
I will let you in on a little secret. Do you know what everybody needs to know about cold calling? It's that CONFIDENCE is a key component of successful Cold Calling! What everybody needs to know about cold calling I have mentioned before that you can't bluster your...
Selling During Covid – the 2022 Edition
Welcome to the New Year! I want to get straight to the point and address the elephant in the room. Covid is still raging and its presence is still impacting our businesses. We have made some headway and there is reason to expect the year to improve but for now, I want...
Sales Prospecting is NOT a Silver Bullet
I live, sleep, eat and breathe prospecting. I LOVE Cold Calling and know how well it works. So when companies tell me 'Sales prospecting doesn't work', I always disagree and say, 'Yes, it DOES!'. When they tell me sales prospecting doesn't work, I know the real...
End of Year Survey 2021
Please participate in our SHORT (two questions!) Prospecting Survey to let us know what modes of communication YOU find most successful when Sales Prospecting. Please pass along the link to your community to help us get the most feedback possible. Thank you and...
Are You Missing a Piece to your Sales Puzzle?
Over the years, I have noticed that these three fundamentals are KEY to sales success. When you aren't hitting your sales quota, or can't seem to connect with enough qualified leads, check to see if you are missing one of these pieces. I often see people master one...
How to Create an Effective Cold Calling Script
At One of a Kind Sales, we LOVE Cold Calling. And I am a huge fan of Cold Calling Scripts. Here are some tips on how to create an effective Cold Calling script for yourself. First, any salesperson who says they don’t need a script should reconsider because I am...
The Importance of Ongoing Sales Training
I recently read something that suggested "…the ideal sales training program should accompany a new rep through his or her first months on the job, lasting at least 90 days and as long as a year or more."(1) Yes, this is a good start but in our extensive experience, we...
What is Conversational Selling?
At One of a Kind Sales, we call our proprietary approach to Cold Calling 'Conversational Selling'. We approach each call as a conversation and an opportunity to discover two things: 1. Are we speaking with a decision maker? and 2. Are they experiencing...
Cold Calling is Networking
I have noticed that many salespeople are quick to spend an exorbitant amount of time and money on live events, claiming that they offer networking opportunities that they cannot afford to miss. That time and money would be better spent on Cold Calling. Cold Calling IS...
My New Book, The Inside Sales Solution, is LIVE!
I am so excited to announce that my book, The Inside Sales Solution is now available! This short, easy to read book shows YOU how to set-up an effective outbound prospecting program. You will learn how to build and manage a team of successful outbound prospectors and...
Activity Tracking Tips to Reach Your Prospecting Goals
Even when you are on the top of your game, you will hear ‘NO’, many more times than you will hear ‘YES’ when prospecting. Here are some activity tracking tips to help you reach your prospecting goals, by staying motivated and on track. [Tweet "Here are some #tips on...
Cold Calling Success Tips – The Tone of Your Voice is Key
At One of a Kind Sales, we talk a lot about LISTENING. But the tone of YOUR voice is also key to your Cold Calling success. According to an industry statistic, "93% of the potential success of your cold call is attributed to the tone of your voice during the...
How to Drive the Buying Process
You have probably heard the popular statistic that 70% of the buyer’s journey is complete before a buyer even reaches out to a company or sales rep. And have read that 95% of B2B buyers research companies online before making purchases (that was in 2014 - my guess...
Sales Tips for Success: Do What They Aren’t!
When asked for Sales Tips for Success, I always include the reminder that you should 'Do what they aren't'. By that, I mean, do what your competition ISN'T doing. [Tweet "#Sales #Tips for #Success: Do What They Aren't!"] Don't necessarily follow the crowd Yes, stats...
The Buyer’s Journey – Never underestimate the power of Cold Calling
I recently read an article on lead generation and how to drive sales and was surprised - no, I would say SHOCKED! - to see absolutely NO reference to Cold Calling. Granted the post was listing '4 ways', not ALL ways, to generate leads and drive sales but I think it...
Cold Calling Needs a New Name
Cold Calling has a terrible reputation! Salespeople avoid making cold calls because they fear being rejected. This reticence leads to fewer calls being made and in the end, fewer sales being closed. Prospects too, dislike cold calls. They are turned off by the...
Virtual Selling is the New Sales ‘Normal’
I frequently hear salespeople say, “Once we get back to 'face-to-face' sales, I will be back on my game!” This is often used as an excuse for poor performance over the past months of Virtual Selling. Well, the reality is that Virtual Selling is the new sales...
How Often Should You Reach Out to Prospects?
There are a few different answers to the question, 'how often should you reach out to prospects?' [Tweet "Here are a few different answers to the question, 'how often should you reach out to #prospects?'"] Frequency of calling First, let's talk about how often you...
How long should a Cold Call last?
Salespeople often want to know, ‘how long should a Cold Call last?’ Here are some guidelines and advice. According to a Sales Hacker stat from Jan 2021, "The most striking difference between cold calls that result in a meeting and those that don't comes down to how...
Optimism increases Sales
They say that optimists see the glass as half full. I say that optimists see a full sales pipeline! Let me explain. Which would you rather spend time with - a person who is grumpy and glum or a positive, happy person? I would take the positive one every time! And when...
Cold Calling Tips: How Much Should YOU be Talking on a Sales Call?
How much should you be talking on a Sales call? I recently came across a post from SalesHacker, which suggested that "the best talk-to-listen ratio is 55%:45%." They went on to explain, "as a salesperson, you’re taught to do more listening than talking. This is true...
How to Leave a Voicemail When Cold Calling
How many of YOUR Cold Calls are going to voicemail? How many of your voicemails are getting returned? According to a 2019 survey by RingLead, 80% of cold calls go to voicemail. And that is actually an improvement over the 2013 stat, by sales strategist Jill Konrath...
Prospecting Post-Covid
As we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I wanted to provide you with some tips for prospecting post-covid and on how to re-engage prospects as the pandemic starts to wind down. First, let me congratulate you on weathering the storm! This has been a...
Cold Calling Objection #1: “Send me an Email”
'Send me an email' - are YOU hearing this Cold Calling Objection? It is always one of the top five Cold Calling Objections Salespeople face. In this post I will address why you may be getting this objection and how to deal with it. Send me an email Does this sound...
Studying Larry King’s Interview Style Can Make Us Better Cold Callers
I, like almost all Americans, knew of Larry King. I knew his name and that he interviewed people. I knew he wore suspenders. But I had not really listened to him or watched his shows. Since his death last month, I have read a number of interesting articles about him...
Successful Cold Calling Starts with Asking Permission
I have always found that successful cold calling starts with asking permission. The other day, it really paid off! It started with a routine call to a branch bank manager. The woman who I spoke with listened for a while then explained that she had zero need for my...
A Better Approach to Cold Calling
According to the RAIN Group, a sales training and consulting firm, 58% of prospects say they currently find cold calls useless. Wow! Are YOU wasting YOUR time making 'useless' calls? Here is a better approach to Cold Calling. What is a 'useless' call? If a prospect...
Be Prepared For Success When Cold Calling!
Are you prepared for success? Sales is a hard job - you hear a lot of 'No's' before you get to a 'Yes' and actually make a sale. You need, as they say, to kiss a lot of frogs before you find that prince or princess. But what if I told you that you are probably...
How to Ask for a Referral
Who would you be more likely to buy from, someone who called you, out of the blue, or someone recommended by a friend or colleague? Study after study have proven that referrals and recommendations are the BEST source of sales prospects. This post will show you...
End of the Year Sales Prospecting Survey
This year has been unprecedented in so many ways, and sales is no exception! Things that used to be ‘tried and true’ may not have worked as well as in 2020 as they had in the past and all sorts of new and exciting opportunities have arisen. Here at One of a...
Are YOU Ready for 2021?
Are YOU ready for 2021? As we look forward to the start of a new year, here are some stats to think about and suggestions to help you ROCK the coming year! Good odds The RAIN Group, an award-winning sales training company, found that ‘82% of buyers say they have...
A Step by Step Guide to Sales Prospecting Success – Step 4 – The Close
"Always Be Closing" is a popular sales phrase that you have probably heard. It is often touted as the "ABC's of Sales". But this phrase is often misunderstood as being all about the spurring on and encouraging the salesperson to go in for the kill - the close - and...
A Quick Cold Calling Quiz
Click here to test your Sales knowledge with our quick (one question!) Cold Calling Quiz. Do YOU know the correct answer?
High Kicks, Basketball and Sales
Back in High School, I was the co-captain of our Kick Line Squad where we cheered on our sports teams by performing precision dance routines in the style made famous by the Rockettes. This came up the other day on a call with a basketball playing colleague. I...
A Step by Step Guide to Sales Prospecting Success: Step 3 How to Overcome Objections – Pt 2
This is Part 2 of our post on how to Overcome Objections when Sales Prospecting. (Click here to see Part 1) Objections are often a Salesperson's nightmare, keeping them up at night and making them reluctant to pick up the phone to make calls in the first place....
A Step by Step Guide to Sales Prospecting Success: Step 3 How to Overcome Objections – Pt. 1
This is the third post in our Step-by-Step Guide to Sales Prospecting Success. In the first post, we covered the Cold Call. That call culminated in setting an appointment for a 'First Meeting' which was step two. Here, in step three, we will show you how to overcome...
Texting Sales Prospects
I was recently asked what I thought about texting Sales Prospects. Here is my response; it really depends on the industry and the individual prospect. First some stats*: As of January 2020, 292 million people in North America use text messages - that’s 80% of the...
Qualities to Look for When Building Your Ideal Client Base and Sales Team
Two of the most important components to the success of your business are your Client Base and your Sales Team. Select these carefully and you will have greater success, both in your day-to-day interactions and your bottom line. What qualities should you look for when...
A Step by Step Guide to Sales Prospecting Success – Step 2: The First Meeting
In our last post in our guide to Sales Prospecting Success, we outlined the first step which is making a Cold Call. That step culminates in setting an appointment for a 'First Meeting'. In this post, we will walk you through the steps of that First Meeting call with...
A Step by Step Guide to Sales Prospecting Success – Step 1: The Cold Call
The process of Cold Calling is fraught with fear and frankly, a bit of misinformation. In this post we will talk about what a Cold Call should and should not include and the steps you need to take to get the best outcome. Cold Calling is the process of reaching out,...
Building an “A” Team
At One of a Kind Sales, we have a LOT of experience assessing and training sales teams. Unfortunately, what we see is that most companies have mediocre sales forces with way more "B" and "C" level players than "A" grade...
When Less is MORE
True or false? Constantly adding new leads will result in more sales. In our experience, this is FALSE. In the case of cold calling and lead generation, less is MORE. To calculate the number of leads you can follow-up on: Calculate number of hours you can dial per...
The Truth Will Set You Free….To Move On To Your Next Prospect
This may sound like a hokey statement but there is truth to it. Read on to see how identifying the real root of a prospect's objection - the truth - early on, can save you time, money and aggravation. How many times have you had someone tell you they were interested...
Selling Right Now
We all know of businesses that went dark during the pandemic. We hear stories of people who closed shop, who decided to lay low and to wait until 'this passes'. As I have said all along, that is NOT a viable business strategy and certainly not the way to generate...
Keep Dialing – people ARE still picking up the phone and checking messages
A colleague recently shared some interesting stats related to phone usage by Fortune 1000 and S&P 500 companies during the Covid-19 pandemic: 93% kept their corporate phone number on their website. 94.1% have increased calling in to check voicemail from three...
How has the Covid-19 Pandemic Changed Cold Calling?
The Corona Virus (Covid-19) Pandemic has upended all of our lives. It has caused sadness and death around the world and has redefined how we live our daily lives. It has also transformed our workplaces and how we do business. Here at One of a Kind Sales, we LOVE...
We are ALL Cold Callers Now!
Cold Callers use the phone, all day, every day, to meet prospects, create connections and nurture business relationships. As the coronavirus pandemic changes the way we live, interact and work, it has made us substitute live networking, trade shows and in-person...
A Testament to the Quality of our Appointment Setting Services
I am a life-long learner. For decades, I have followed and trained with numerous coaches and participated in sales programs of all types. I strive to continuously improve my own skills and to bring new ideas and techniques to our One of a Kind Sales team members and...
Advice for Cold Calling during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Advice for Cold Calling during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Cold Calling is in our DNA
How many more sales could you close if you had a steady stream of QUALIFIED leads? Are you so busy servicing existing customers that you just don't make the calls you need to fill your sales pipeline? Do you hate cold calling? ...
Keep Digging!
This week's cold calling advice is short and sweet - Keep Digging! In 2007 it took 3.68 cold call attempts to reach a prospect. In 2013, it took 8 attempts. Now, it takes an average of 18 calls to actually connect with a buyer! Your goal as a sales prospector is to...
Are You WASTING Your Time Cold Calling from OUTDATED Data?
According to a 2019 statistic from a prominent data compilation company, “the average company is losing 12% of its revenue” as a result of poor data, “costing US businesses more than $611 billion each year”. And a 2018 Global Data Management report stated that “US...
How Does Cold Calling Differ Across Industries?
I am often asked if there are different Cold Calling tactics for different Industries. The answer is, yes, we may modify our script slightly to provide industry specific examples or wording but actually, the biggest difference is in how much TIME it takes for the...
ENVISION Your Sales Success
Back in 2008, during the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Michael Phelps was on fire! He had won 8 gold medals and was still swimming strong. Then, during the 200 meter Butterfly competition he had what you might call a 'wardrobe malfunction'. As he dove in to begin the...