I Can Sell Anything..AMA

[Shaheelm]

How do you guys approach negotiating? Whether its an exporter or an individual on craigslist

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[Ubermensch]

Great thread. I'm currently facing some issues getting sales.

I just started a freelance writing business. I've been pitching to local mom and pop companies through cold emails and managed to snag one client so far. I've had about 5-6 companies express interest in my first email. About 3-4 asked for pricing right away. I gave it to them and never heard back, except one person who offered to pay me 1/4 of what I was charging, I said no thanks.

Kudos for getting any kind of results with cold e-mailing. If you get results with cold e-mailing, I bet your results would be even better with cold calling.

Since cold e-mailing seems to work for you, try to multiply your efforts. How many e-mails are you sending per day? Are you sending e-mails every day?

1 prospect asked how my services could help them, I wrote them a somewhat lengthy email and never heard back. I even followed up with them one more time and got nowhere.

Don't consider this lead dead until you follow up eight more times. Try calling him. E-mail is just one avenue of contacting prospects.

My hunch is that your e-mail should have been much shorter, probably just a handful of bullet points. Decision-makers don't have time to read a novel. Hit them with the value fast and hard.

Also, when it comes to pitching someone like this, I much prefer selling on the phone. A real-time conversation allows you to pick up on what their true objections are. As it stands, you're sitting in the dark. Why didn't the prospect call you back? Did he think your pricing was too high? Did he not see the value? Did he misunderstand something you wrote? Right now, you don't know, because you can't ask him. People can't hide their thoughts from you on a phone call.

Another prospect said its low season right now but might need my services later unless I had any other ideas and also inquired about pricing/services. I wrote them a lengthy email offering several suggestions on how they could improve their website with my services, as well as my services and pricing. I haven't heard back from them neither.

Seem's there is interest but I'm screwing up somewhere along the path. Not sure if its my pricing but it seemed very reasonable because my one client told me what they were paying their previous client and I have also done some research on how to price my services as well.

It is a communication issue. You aren't communicating the value of your service intensely enough so that your prospects feel as though they need it. Preferably, you're selling something that your prospects inherently need. If you know they need it, it's simply a matter of educating them about how your service fills a need that they already have.

If I were you, I might focus less on trying to sell by typing.

Pick up the phone. Start dialing.

 

[thunder_god]

Kudos for getting any kind of results with cold e-mailing. If you get results with cold e-mailing, I bet your results would be even better with cold calling.

Since cold e-mailing seems to work for you, try to multiply your efforts. How many e-mails are you sending per day? Are you sending e-mails every day?



Don't consider this lead dead until you follow up eight more times. Try calling him. E-mail is just one avenue of contacting prospects.

My hunch is that your e-mail should have been much shorter, probably just a handful of bullet points. Decision-makers don't have time to read a novel. Hit them with the value fast and hard.

Also, when it comes to pitching someone like this, I much prefer selling on the phone. A real-time conversation allows you to pick up on what their true objections are. As it stands, you're sitting in the dark. Why didn't the prospect call you back? Did he think your pricing was too high? Did he not see the value? Did he misunderstand something you wrote? Right now, you don't know, because you can't ask him. People can't hide their thoughts from you on a phone call.



It is a communication issue. You aren't communicating the value of your service intensely enough so that your prospects feel as though they need it. Preferably, you're selling something that your prospects inherently need. If you know they need it, it's simply a matter of educating them about how your service fills a need that they already have.

If I were you, I might focus less on trying to sell by typing.

Pick up the phone. Start dialing.

Thank you for the feedback!
Not that many emails unfortunately. I definitely need to be sending out more emails. I'm actually terrified of speaking on the phone especially cold calls. I had a phone call chat with one client that I secured but I was kind of a nervous wreck and surprised I even got the sale. I remember I was mumbling my prices when he asked me because I was so nervous lol. I guess this is something I will have to overcome. I kind of fell off of the bandwagon last week focusing on producing good work and delivering it quickly to the first client rather than trying to procure more clients. Its my fault and I feel ashamed for not being productive.

How do you suggest I follow up with leads that expressed some interest? A quick short email like

"Hey, its so and so

I'm just following up to see if you had any more questions or concerns in regards to helping your website bring in more business?

Best Regards,

XX "

Do you suggest I cold email them and then try to get them on the phone as quickly as possible? I'm going to have to prepare some sort of script so I don't sound like an idiot on the phone again. Do you also suggest I follow up with leads that won't silence after I gave them my price?

I also suspect like you suggested that my emails are too long on my responses. I'm going to have to find a way to shorten this down.

I forgot to mention, its holiday season right now. Do you think it matters whether I follow up now or wait until new years? I don't want to seem I'm pestering them over the holidays when they are on vacation.

 

[Ubermensch]

You're young, how do you get past that? Or, if so how do you make it an advantage?

@Thiago Machado

Mastering the art of selling with modern-day technology - the phone, e-mail, etc - allows you to sell to decision-makers all over the globe (without letting them discriminate against you, due to your baby face).

 

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[Ubermensch]

Thank you for the feedback!
Not that many emails unfortunately. I definitely need to be sending out more emails. I'm actually terrified of speaking on the phone especially cold calls. I had a phone call chat with one client that I secured but I was kind of a nervous wreck and surprised I even got the sale. I remember I was mumbling my prices when he asked me because I was so nervous lol. I guess this is something I will have to overcome. I kind of fell off of the bandwagon last week focusing on producing good work and delivering it quickly to the first client rather than trying to procure more clients. Its my fault and I feel ashamed for not being productive.

How do you suggest I follow up with leads that expressed some interest? A quick short email like

"Hey, its so and so

I'm just following up to see if you had any more questions or concerns in regards to helping your website bring in more business?

Best Regards,

XX "

Do you suggest I cold email them and then try to get them on the phone as quickly as possible? I'm going to have to prepare some sort of script so I don't sound like an idiot on the phone again. Do you also suggest I follow up with leads that won't silence after I gave them my price?

I also suspect like you suggested that my emails are too long on my responses. I'm going to have to find a way to shorten this down.

I forgot to mention, its holiday season right now. Do you think it matters whether I follow up now or wait until new years? I don't want to seem I'm pestering them over the holidays when they are on vacation.

@Thiago Machado Never got back to this guy.

Perfect practice makes perfect.

SPIN selling applies here.

You won't be "nervous" speaking with clients once you're in flow. Once you start selling, and closing, you'll see that the game is the same each time.

Introduce yourself (get their attention FAST, and get their implicit or explicit agreement to give you 5 minutes of their time).

Ask questions. Shut up, and listen.

 

[GuestUser1178]

If cold calling only would work for selling game apps nowadays! Anyway, great thread!

 

[Brandon Fisher]

Ok, I have a serious question..Although, I would like to hear your take on the whole 'sell me this pen' thing.

Whenever i walk into a store, especially a luxurious one [for example, my wife likes Michael Kors purses]. The sales person walks up and says, "Can I help you find anything?"

It's a small shop, there' not many places to get lost. I do this and I watch other customers do this as well, we say, "Nope, just looking." Then the retail persona says, "Ok, let me know if you need some help." And trudges off. They do this with every customer over and over.

I know there has to be a better approach for the retail person to take, but I can't think of one, what do they do? How do they keep the conversation going?

Background: I've never worked in a retail shop. I worked as a teller at a large bank and it was our job to try and get non-customers to sign up for accounts. I was average at it.

I greet customers all the time at my Auto Dealership.

The biggest thing I've learned is to ask, "What can I help you with?" as opposed to, "Can I help you with anything?"

"What can I help you with?" is an open ended question that demands an answer, even if it is that they are only looking around; whereas, "Can I help you?" is a yes or no question.

 

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