Saturday, July 15, 2006

ArticleBlaster How To Turn Leads Into Sales


*****************************************************************

Message delivered directly to members of the group:
internet_marketing_articleblaster@yahoogroups.com

*****************************************************************

Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Larry Klein

==================
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms

- You have permission to publish this article electronically in
free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as
the bylines are included.

- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial
purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly
accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.

- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any
sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence,
porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.

- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited
Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in
an opt-in email list only.

- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we
ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that
contains the article to lk[at]nfcom.com (replace [at] with @)

- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links
MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of
the URL where the article is posted to lk[at]nfcom.com (replace
[at] with @)

- We request that you ask permission from the author if you
want to publish this article in print.

The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as
part of its Article Distribution feature (
http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT
own this article, please respect the author's copyright and
this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of
these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
==================

Article Title: How To Turn Leads Into Sales
Author: Larry Klein
Word Count: 718
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=67380&ca=Marketing
Format: 64cpl
Author's Email Address: lk[at]nfcom.com (replace [at] with @)

Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=67380

================== ARTICLE START ==================
Some people in sales think a lead is a name from a list. That�s
not correct. A name from a list is not a lead--it�s a suspect, a
total stranger and it does not matter if they meet some criteria
(e.g. age, occupation, net worth). A true lead meets your
criteria AND has expressed interest in what you offer.
Specifically, the lead has responded to an email, a print ad, a
piece of direct mail, etc. A true marketer and sales
professional only contacts people that have first expressed
interest.

Now that you have a lead, how do you turn it into a sale?

You don�t call the lead and say, �I�m following up�..� EVERY
sales person says this and the phrase has now become synonymous
with �get ready for my sales pitch.� Your lead automatically
gets defensive (no one likes to be sold) and your chance of a
sale is close to zero. Rather, call the lead and say �Bob, you
returned a card expressing your interest in having
more�..better�(fill in the blank), is that still of interest to
you?� The only words that should come out of your mouth are the
benefits your lead desires. Your first task is to engage your
lead, not to talk about your product.

Next, you don�t say �we have� or �my company offers� as these
phrases are synonymous with �get ready for my pitch.� Again,
these will make your lead defensive. You do say, �I don�t know
if I can help you�may I ask you a few questions about your
(business/heath/investments, fill in the blank)?� You disarm
the defensiveness of the prospect by stating you don�t know if
you can help.

Next, you ask intelligent questions about what�s important to
HIM. The best thing you can do here is forget about the
features and benefits of your product because your lead does
not care. He cares only about what�s important to him. So to
really listen, you need to forget your spiel. As your prospect
reveals answers to your questions, you ask deeper questions to
reveal their emotional desires. Questions like:

Why is that important to you?
If you could have that, how would it impact you?
If you don�t solve that, what�s the long term cost to you?
How does that make you feel?
Are you satisfied with that?

Since people buy emotionally, you must get them to reveal what
motivates them emotionally. Until you do, do not proceed to
your next step (to set an appointment, ask for the credit card,
close the deal) as you will fail. Too many sellers ask for the
order too early and they get objections. First, get your
prospect to reveal what motivates him emotionally and then you
ask if he would be interested in a solution to that
problem/opportunity. Only when he says yes, do you proceed to
the next step.

�Bob, if there were a solution to that problem, what would that
be worth to you? So if you could have the solution for only 10%
of that amount, you would want to know about it? Great, then
(set an appointment, ask for the credit card, close the deal).�


I know that sellers tell me they are client focused or customer
focused but it�s not true. They are product focused and
my-agenda focused. If your personal mission or company mission
is to really help someone, then it becomes easy to turn leads
into sales. Because your objective changes from �getting�
people to buy your product to �finding� people who want what
your product offers. You can only determine that by asking
questions. And when you encounter someone that does not have an
interest in your product, you move on.

The key to turning a lead into a sale is to leave your agenda
to the end of the conversation and get your lead to reveal his
emotional agenda first. Then you have the relatively simple
process of showing your prospect how your product fits his
agenda (rather than convincing the prospect why they should
have interest in your agenda).

About The Author: Larry Klein CPA/PFS, CFP(r), CRFA(tm) is an
expert marketer of financial services and author of "Marketing
Financial Services to Seniors." His Internet-based lead system
for financial professionals is at http://www.insurance-lead.ws

Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=67380
================== ARTICLE END ==================

For more free-reprint articles by Larry Klein please visit:
http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Larry+Klein

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/XISQkA/lOaOAA/yQLSAA/7VpplB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->


Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/internet_marketing_articleblaster/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
internet_marketing_articleblaster-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

No comments: