Boost Sales

* Are you sending e-mails to prospects instead of calling them?

* Is e-mail your selling medium of choice because it lets you avoid the rejection that you dread when you make real cold calls?

* Do you wait and wait for return e-mails from prospects that will give you the green light to move the sales process forward?

Sad but true, these days most people who sell for a living spend 80% of their time trying to communicate with prospects via e-mail instead of actually picking up the phone and speaking wi

* Are you sending e-mails to prospects instead of evocation them?

* Is e-mail your selling medium of choosing as long as it lets you do without the rejection that you dread when you make real cold calls?

* Do you wait and wait for return e-mails from prospects that will give you the green light to move the sales process forward?

Sad but true, these days most people who sell for a living spend 80% of their time trying to come together with prospects via e-mail instead of seriously picking up the phone and speaking with them. Are you one of those people? If so, you aren't alone...but do you understand why you've turned to e-mail instead of personal contact? I think there are 2 core reasons that underlie this unfortunate trend:

* Fear of rejection. The sheer negative force of great rejection makes people turn to e-mail to generate new prospect relationships as things go it hurts less to not get a reply than to hear that verbal "no."

* Getting overdue by gatekeepers andvoicemail. When salespeople don't know how to explode through the barriers of gatekeepers and voicemail, they start thinking, "Forget it -- it's not worth the aggravation, and it takes too much energy. I'll just e-mail instead."

However, when you try to use e-mail to offer your product or service to someone who doesn't know you, you can't possibly establish the natural dialogue midst two people that allows the trust level to reach the level necessary for a healthy, long-term relationship.

We all know how much everyone hates e-mail spam, but even so, many salespeople are still sending introductory e-mails to decisionmakers. They feel that, as long as they're from a credible organization, they won't be wed with the negative image of a spam solicitor.

However, these introductory e-mails typically contain the traditional three-part sales pitch -- the introduction, a mini-presentation touching the products and services breast offered, and a call to ruling -- and this traditional selling assimilation instantly tells the recipient of the e-mail that your only goal is to sell your product or service so you can score your goals, andnot theirs.

If you're still using email to sell, watch out for these 7 pitfalls:

1. Avoidsales pitches. If you feel you must use e-mail to start a new relationship, make your message issues and problems that you conceive your prospects are having, but d on't say something to indicate that you're insolent that both of you are a match.

2. Stop thinking that e-mail is the best way to get to decisionmakers. Traditional selling has come forth so ineffective that salespeople have run out of options for creating conversation, both over the phone and in person. However, it's best to view e-mail as a change option only, not as a way to create new relationships. Try to use it primarily for sending information and documents according to you've developeda relationship with a prospect.

3. Remove your conglomerate name from the subject line. Whenever you put your partaking and solution first, you create the impression that you can't wait to give a presentation nigh about your product and services. Your subject line shouldbe a humble reference to issues that you may be able to help prospects solve.

4. Stop conditioning your prospects to hide behinde-mail. When you e-mail prospects, it's easy for them to blink you by not responding. Also, they get used to never picking up the phone and having a conversation with you -- and they may want to bilk you now they're intimidated that, if they show interest in what you have to offer, you'll try to close up them. This creates sales pressure -- the root of all selling woes. This shy becomes a vicious circle. If you learn to create pressure-free conversations, you'll find that you'll start getting phone calls from prospects who aren't afraidto call you.

5. make way for using e-mail as a crutch for handling sticky sales situations. Are prospects not game you back? Many salespeople who call me for illumination ask how they can get themselves out of sticky situations with prospects -- but the e-mails they've sent have before triggered those prospects to retreat. It's tricky to come up with the correct softening language in an e-mail that will re-open a conversation with a prospect who has decided to in the wings off chit --direct, person-to-person phone calls or meetings are much easier andmore human.

6. jib using "I" and"we." When you start an introductory e-mail with "I" or "we," you immediately give the impression that you care only alongside selling your solution, rather than entity open to a conversation that may or may not lead to a mutually good match what you have to offer andthe issues your prospect may be trying to solve. If you can dub in your sales language to a natural conversation, your prospect will be less likely to stereotype your message as a spam solicitation.

Finally...

7. If you can, stop using e-mail selling altogether. There is a way to renew your confidence and eliminate your reluctance to picking up the phone and have pleasant conversations with potential prospects. Learn a completely new way of working with gatekeepers that will get you past voicemail and to your decisionmakers without the rejection and frustration that are inevitable with traditional selling approaches.

For all these reasons, you should think of e-mail as your last resort. If you can learn to pick up the phone without fear, start a trusting conversation with a gatekeeper, learn how to go also voice mail and find your decisionmakers, you'll join the thousands of people who have made the armed assault to the most natural and efficient way of generating sales opportunities.

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