How to approach a new customers,

im in accounting department but i have ideas regarding sales, first you should know what products you are selling make sure that you are 100 percent familiar with it so then when a customers ask you questions you know how to answer them with 100 percent confidence. second, you should know who are the people who really need your products. Gather informations about them so it will be easy for you to contact them, emails, fax and phone calls are ok as the first step of contacting to tell about what you are offering,( remember no more sweeter than a sales person ) and ask them for thier free time so you can show your products. In showing the products to the customers, make sure that you will be the most realiable endorser of it.

Hi, sure thing MYLYN PEREZ, those skills we must keep in hands, but i would like to dig deeply into the techniques, what experienced salesperson know that, by the way thank for your advices, bless you!

Hi Xuan,
Hi there and hope you are well. Am based in Kenya and would like to reach the Chinese outbound tourist market for Kenyan destinations.
How can i do that? Thank you.

Always from a side but not form front.  Always suggest how to help instead of offering a product.

M

I agree with aaim0001 .. that is one strategy in order for you to sell..

Hi all,
Thank you for the advise... will find ways to go about the issue..
Good day..

What will you do to get contacted with corporate key making decision? what should you do if you just have basic information? (corporate phone number & fax number)?

1. different folks, different approach
2. You know better than I do with your prospect
3. If there's a will there's a way
4. When you fail to get the clients-selling your product/s
   CHEER UP that is the only beginning to a handful
   opportunity.   
5. Be unique!

Hi Josing,
Thanks for the good advise.. All those are in place, only i don't know if i should write them in this type of forum....
I do appreciate your effort.
Thank you.

How to Cold Call a Big Customer: Practice, Practice, Practice Ringing a manager at a large firm is probably the most daunting cold call you'll ever make. The only way to overcome fear is to craft a script, and to practice it until you feel confident about approaching a prospect.

"How are you going to introduce yourself? How are you going to ask for what you want? How are you going to respond if they say, 'I'm too busy,' or 'I have a vendor, or 'Call me next week,' says Weiss. "Those are all things to think about when you're writing a script."

Still, Weiss cautions against sounding too artificial or rehearsed. Keep the jargon to a minimum and stick to a fluid, friendly, and conversational style. Write your script in the way that you speak, she says, and leave room for improvisation. Try talking into a tape recorder and playing it back to see how you sound and what you need to improve. 

"Prospects at large organizations are similar to prospects at small organizations in that they're human beings," says Weiss. "You're looking to make a human connection."

How to Cold Call a Big Customer: How to Handle Gatekeepers

Large companies are also more hierarchical, and you could face many "gatekeepers," — executive assistants, associates or secretaries — who screen calls made to the decision maker.

Don't treat them as less valuable contacts, and don't shy away from telling them who you are and what you're trying to accomplish, says Hackney. "It's very important that you express to them what it is you're offering and why it's important to their boss, because many times they're making a decision about whether or not your message gets passed through to their boss."

Weiss, however, recommends a different approach. Though you should always be polite, "you want to act like the peer of the person you're calling, not being the peer of the gatekeeper," she says.

"There's this myth about spending a lot of time courting gatekeepers, but I like to think about how Donald Trump would do it. He would probably say to the gatekeeper, 'This is Donald Trump, is she there?' It's really that simple — it exudes confidence and authority, and it often saves a lot of time."

How to Cold Call a Big Customer: It's Not About You

"It's not about what you do, it's about how you help your customers," says Weiss, adding that entrepreneurs often spend too much time talking about themselves while pitching a customer.

Instead, keep your introduction short and switch gears quickly to explain what you can do for the company. Sweeten the pitch by offering testimonials from existing clients. Tell a brief, compelling story of how you solved a problem for another company. "I call it a mini-case study," says Weiss. "It's something that tells the prospect that you are credible."


How to Cold Call a Big Customer: Deflecting Excuses to Get You Off the Phone

Decision makers at large corporations are busy and often have limited patience for unsolicited sales calls.   

"They're doing something else, the phone rings and they've been interrupted, they pick up the phone and you say hello," says Weiss. "What you're prospect is thinking is 'Who are you and what do you want?'"

Here are some common excuses prospects use to cut a phone call short, and how you can navigate past them:

    "Not now. I'm too busy." Be respectful of a prospect's time. Politely ask them when you can call back, or even suggest a few dates and times. "Most of the time they'll tell you," says Weiss.

•    "We already have a vendor." That doesn't mean you should give up on the prospect, but you shouldn't aggressively try to unseat the competition either. "If you start telling them how bad that vendor is, essentially what you're doing is telling the prospect they made a mistake," says Weiss. "That doesn't usually blow over well." Instead, prepare to differentiate yourself by researching competing firms and finding out what their weaknesses are. "Let's say you have fabulous customer service and your competition is known for not answering their phone," adds Weiss. "Tell the prospect that they will always get a live person on the phone when they call. You're explaining how you're different without having to say, 'The competition is terrible.'"

Finally, be persistent. The goal of the initial call is not to close the deal, says Weiss, but rather to establish a relationship that could lead to a sale down the road.


For more visits: http://www. inc.com/guides/2010/09/how-to-cold-call-a-big-customer.html/1

Hi Truong Xuan,

Please note that your post is now on the Ho Chi Minh City Forum

Thank you

Maximilien

Xuan,

Your approach depends on your product and your customer.  If you are selling yarns, the last thing you want to do is call a mill's listed number.  That number is only for the mill's customer service.  A lot of time, the operator at such a number doesn't know who the yarn buyer is or s/he is not authorized to disclose that contact to you.

Also, depending on how expensive the product is, industry trade shows are a great way of making contacts, and many of them actively look for volunteers to make presentations about new technology.

'Persistance removes resistance."..or adds legal issues to the mix. 

Go to YouTube and search fot ''corporate cold calling'', watch/learn.  Then search for 'put that coffee down'' watch/laugh/learn.

If you can get reception to like you, they'll offer up information that may be useful.  If that fails, the janatorial staff probably knows who's calling the shots. 

Generally, if your product or service is good, you will not have time to work the phone.  Likewise, a good company will not have time to field your unsolicitated phone call.  It is just not the way real business is conducted.  Only used-car and snake-oil salesmen resort to this tactic. 

Tradeshow is where business is and should be conducted.

Last but not least, if you want to excel in business, please don't read, let alone quote and link, guys who write about this less-than-scrupulous practice.  They are no more than used-car or snake oil salesman, looking to make a quick buck by exploiting your business aspirations.

In the American business community, such fellas are nothing more than laughing stocks.  You do not want to learn from them.