A client of mine called me the other day looking for some advice. He owns and operates a small distribution business and as he put it is considering investing in CRM technology, with the aim of helping his business through automating his sales and customer reporting.
The catalyst event for this call was that one member of his sales team had recently left the company taking with him a long list of contacts, and presumably with time customers.
It’s been all over the media, has been the chosen topic for many a conversation, it’s official; WE ARE NOW IN A RECESSION. So how do tell the facts from the fiction? And most importantly what will it actually mean for your business?
Seeking out other professionals who will act on your behalf as referral partners is an excellent and production way of securing high quality leads.
Here’s an article on the subject by C.J. Hayden. C.J. is the best-selling author of “Get Clients NOW! (AMACOM, 1999)”, “Get Hired NOW!” and “The One-Person Marketing Plan Workbook”. C.J. is a career and business coach who teaches people to make a better living doing what they love. She is a former corporate productivity consultant with over 25 years experience in business and management. C.J. has been speaking and training professionally since 1978, and coaching since 1992. She has been featured in numerous books and magazines, and widely profiled internationally by newspapers, radio, and TV. For more information, visit www.getclientsnow.com.
My very first sales position was with an insurance industry and I now can look back fondly at that experience knowing that some of the early sales skills that I learnt from my time selling life polices and critical illness cover have remained valuable and relevant to the other products that I later sold and sales roles that I worked.
Here’s a great article on following up with prospects and clients from Diane Helbig. Diane is a Professional Coach, and the president of Seize This Day Coaching. She works one-on-one and in groups with small business owners, entrepreneurs, and salespeople to help them create successful business development strategies. As a team, they embrace the possibilities.
