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You request a sales position interview, sweat thru it, and yes you happen become one of the lucky chosen. You just fell into the death trap.
Your sales manager is a wonderful guy with about a dozen agents under his wing. Initially he works on your mind daily. How superior these products are. Heck, they almost sell themselves. Rapidly you become mentally wounded, finding your sales manager is not going to provide leads. You are go to dig up your own or dig your grave..
From wonderful, your manager becomes slave driver. He forces you to make up a lead list of 100 relatives, friends, neighbors, church members, etc. That becomes the new revival plan. You should get plenty of sales opportunities. These are not 100 leads but 100 people you happen to know. As a result your "leads" get more "pity sales" than sales from people wanting or needing what you sell.
Clouds of career death loom overhead constantly. The self termination of 85% of salespeople occurs within 18 months after being hired. In the office you notice the seats in the office are occupied by newer agents with new phone directories. This projects rather strange and spooky feelings. (Almost like a funeral parlor). It is not just you, it is like a plague sweeping across the helpless new salespeople.
The truth stinks of rotting meat. Where are those leads you were told about in the interview? Your sales manager barks at you for not getting referrals, and for not talking to enough acquaintances.. You too are provided with a death valley phone directory to start cold calling for leads. The sales manager chastises you for not being able to overcome objections. You start to think your company, agency, and manager want you to sink six feet under.
Why is your sales manager spending so much time hiring and so little on hands selling with new agents?. You observe new agents are dropping quicker than a fly, but the ones that fail, pass on without a memorial service. Fresh "new blood" keeps arriving, but what about all the missing bodies?
Reality sinks in The culprit is leads. No leads produces zero income, no matter how great you can sell. Either you must quit now or borrow $1,000 from a family member. If you want to make money in sales, you have to use your own seed money to survive and prosper. You need leads to sell, not a phone directory for random prospecting.
Using a lead system is a simple formula. A fair number of leads + decent quality = more sales presentations = more sales income. Injecting quality leads is started by finding a list broker. He can get you a 2,500 name list of quality prospects. He can also connect you with a combo large mailer /printer. That person can give you wording ideas that produce responses. 2,500 inexpensive postcards are printed with your message.
FINALLY GETTING LEADS. Have 1,250 sales pieces mailed now. The other 1,250 are sent out 10 to 12 days latter. Your first batch of leads produces 12 to 15 responses. These people are eager to talk with you. 7 appointments gets 4 sales and $2,500.00 in commissions. Quickly pay off $100 on your loan, and invest another $1,000 before the second batch of leads come in. You are determined not to be buried alive.
Besides starting to dig your self out of the grave, Two automatic sales miracles happen. You quickly get more experience leading to a higher rate of appointments. This causes more sales at higher amounts.
THE DEVIL was your sales manager, sales agency, and home office company. YOUR SAVIOR WAS GOOD LEADS
Don Yerke is the marketing adviser at Direct Mailing List Brokers. A premier firm in providing carefully refined and selected sales agent name lists and prospective client lists.. The uncommon website with an attitude is located at http://www.direct-marketing-mailing-lists-brokers.com If the next article you read is controversial or takes a stand against sales firm goliaths, Don may have been the author.
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