SalesGiants interviews Wim Wilmsen, author of the 3 Minute Method

Wim Wilmsen
3 Minute Method

1) Wim, let's begin by talking about your e-book, 3 Minute Method. What's the idea behind the book? Why did you write it?

I wrote the Three Minute Method because I think there is something fundamentally wrong with how most sales people approach phone calls. They have been taught to ask questions and start a  conversation with their prospects, but today's super busy prospects often don't have the time or will to do this even in a face-to-face meeting, let alone over the phone.

What my (free) e-book teaches you is how to set appointments with your prospects over the phone in only 3 minutes. The basic idea is that you don't build up to a climax and ask for the appointment at the end of the conversation, but that you ask for it right away, only 30 seconds in the conversation.

I've been teaching this method for years and can proudly say that it has an average success rate of about 30%, regardless of the industry clients are in. That's a lot higher than what most sales people experience today.

Editor's note: 

You can download Wim Wilmsen's free e-book 3 Minute Method at his website, http://www.salessells.com/

2) In a short sentence, who should read your book? What kind of advice should they be looking for?

The Three Minute Method is for sales people who want to spend their time on the phone in the best way possible: more appointments with less effort.

3) On the other hand, who shouldn’t? What will readers NOT find in your book?

The goal of the Three Minute Method is to generate interest and set appointments with prospects. If you want to actually sell your products or services over the phone, this is not for you.

4) What's the first thing someone should do after reading your book?

Test the method for a week and be amazed at the effectiveness.

About your preferences:

5) Besides your own website (http://www.salessells.com/) what other sales websites would you recommend?

Some of my favorite blogs:

http://yoursalesplaybook.com/ by Paul Castain
http://thesalesblog.com/ by Anthony Iannarino
http://www.salesdujour.com by Gary S. Hart
http://newsalescoach.com/ by Mike Weinberg
http://partnersinexcellenceblog.com/ by David Brock
http://www.asalesguy.com/ by Jim Keenan
http://www.ianbrodie.com/ by Ian Brodie
http://www.alenmajer.com/ by Alen Majer
http://www.bnet.com/blog/salesmachine by Geoffrey James

6) What are your preferred sales/business books?

Wow, too many really. I try to read at least two books a month. Some authors that come to mind:

Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, Jeffrey Gitomer, Jill Konrath (you can read Jill's interview to SalesGiants blog here: http://salesgiantsblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/interview-with-jill-konrath-author-of.html), Zig Ziglar, Neil Rackham, Tom Hopkins, Keith Rosen, Brian Tracy, Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill.

About you:

7) How did you get started in sales?

My first job was as a retail store manager (eyewear), after which I ventured into a career in B2B sales. First as an account manager (IT, web development, CRM), then as a key account manager (online marketing/advertising). Over the past few years I have made the transition to sales management and sales coaching.

8) Most memorable sale?

Sold a complete intranet solution to one of the biggest banks in Europe. The combination of the strong competition and complex subject matter made it a big challenge.

9) Most disastrous sale (or funny situation)?

Due to a communication failure I managed to sell an existing customer a product he had already been using for years (internet marketing software), because I thought I was meeting with a new prospect.

About your work as a sales expert:

10) What is the biggest mistake you see as a sales expert?

Not asking for the sale. Great that you are a trusted advisor to your customers, but your job is to make sales. It's called consultative SELLING for a reason.

11) What is the best sales advice you have ever received?

Don't just focus on the latest hype (e.g. social media), focus on what works for you and your customers.

12) What advice would you give to someone just starting out in sales?

Not only brand your company, also brand yourself. Position yourself as an expert in your field, both in the online and offline world.

13) What are you working on right now that makes you feel energized? What's your next big project?

I'm working on a brand new sales training program that I'm hoping to launch at the end of this year or beginning of next year.

14) Contact information:

Website: http://www.salessells.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sales-Sells/124272270980486
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wimwilmsen
Twitter: @SalesSells
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/salessells/
E-mail: wim@salessells.com

Thanks for the interview, Wim!

Cold Calling Perfection: Are You Hearing This? by Kendra Lee, President, KLA Group

Kendra Lee,
President, KLA Group

In email prospecting strategies, one of the first things I advise is that you send yourself a draft before hitting the final send. That way, you get a sense of what it's like for your prospects to receive your emails. You can quickly see where you need to make adjustments to grab your prospect’s attention and get a reply.

This same checkup strategy works well for your cold calls, too.

Many of your best and worst phone habits are the ones you probably aren’t even aware of until you hear them. They’re the same habits that may be keeping you from closing more first appointments.

So, how do you assess your cold call effectiveness? Record them.

It used to be that only the largest companies had access to telephone recording equipment. These days, however, numerous recording options exist. Recording functionality may already be built into your company phone system. If not, at the very least, you can use one of the free conference calling options that record calls.

Depending on where you live, there could be legal issues that require you to notify your prospect that you're recording the call, so do confirm that first. And if recording cold calls makes you uneasy or isn’t possible, ask a peer to listen in while you make calls instead.

Here’s a quick checklist of 10 things you should listen for in your cold call reviews.

1) Are you opening the call with a compelling value proposition? The better you get at grabbing a prospect's attention during the first few moments of a cold call, the easier time you'll have of advancing the sale.

2) Are you talking about products, or business needs? Prospects care most about solutions to their problems, so be sure to frame your call in those terms.

3) Do you sound like an expert? It's important to be authoritative if you want prospects to trust you with their time, much less their investment.

4) Are the suggestions you make, or situations you talk about, accurate? For your discussion to have any weight, it has to focus on a need the prospect considers to be valid and important.

5) How are your listening skills? No cold call should be a one-way conversation. Ask questions that engage your prospects and learn to listen closely to the feedback you're receiving from prospects.

6) How does your telephone voice sound? Is your voice clear and relaxed, or full of "um's" and "ah's?" Cultivating a strong, clear phone voice is important for making prospects comfortable with you.

7) How skilled are you at dealing with objections? Cold calling is full of objections. Practice dealing with them over the phone and your appointment closing ratio will improve drastically.

8) Are you building enough interest before you ask for an appointment? Asking for an appointment too early is a common sales mistake. Make sure the prospect is interested enough in what you're talking about before you propose the next step.

9) Do you look for referrals if your contact turns out not to be the decision maker? Sometimes our research lets us down, but finding the wrong contact doesn't have to halt the sales opportunity. Ask for a referral to the correct decision maker and reference your initial call as an introduction.

10) Is the voicemail you leave one that you would return? If you're going to make cold calls, you're going to leave voicemails. Learning to leave the prospect with a compelling message – and clearly spoken return phone number – are great ways to make your telephone prospecting more effective.

If you can refine your cold calling, you’ll get past gatekeepers more effectively, leave more compelling messages, gather more relevant information, and close more first appointments.

And who doesn’t want to do all those things?

***

Kendra Lee is a top IT Seller, Prospect Attraction Expert and author of the award winning book “Selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the Small and Midmarket Business (SMB) segment. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events. To find out more about the author, read her latest articles, or to subscribe to her newsletter visit www.klagroup.com or call +1 303.741.6636.

Prospecting Letters Still Open Doors

By Kendra Lee, President, KLA Group

I am often asked about the effectiveness of letters as a prospecting strategy in today’s electronic world. You see email, cold calling, and webinar tips, but rarely hear about letters. Direct mail has fallen off considerably. Anything suspected to be a sales approach gets tossed in the name of productivity savings. It’s harder than ever to ensure your letter reaches the intended recipient. Even when you pay the extra money to send it via Express Mail it’s frequently an assistant who opens your letter and determines if the boss will read it. As a result, many sellers have given up on letters. And yet, you are frequently presented with golden opportunities to use them to make an impression and get in the door with top executives.

Recently Sarah, a seller I work with, discovered that a number of her target prospects were named to the Top Places to Work list for her metropolitan area.

Lists of companies being recognized like Sarah’s prospect are published every day. Announcements of noteworthy changes are broadcast. When a company is adding staff, launching new products or relocating, they want everyone to know it. All present a great opportunity to drop a potential prospect a note and launch your gain access campaign.

Sarah recognized the unique chance the Top Places to Work award offered her. While she wanted to use it as an entree to introduce herself and her services, she wasn’t sure how. She knew it couldn’t be a typical sales letter. It had to be more personal than that.

When you take the time to write a personalized letter, you’ll be surprised by the response. The company president will not only take your call, he may even reach out to you to thank you for acknowledging his company’s accomplishments. Once he does, you can segue into setting an appointment to get to know him and share ideas you have for his business.

It all begins with a letter an executive appreciates and remembers.

It sounds easy to write, but when you sit down to do it you suddenly have writer’s block. Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Personalize it. Yes, I’m going to say it. Hand write the letter. Use a 4” x 6” note card and pen your congratulations. You aren’t sending a lead generation email to 120 people from your micro-segment. The group you’re writing is probably fewer than 10 people, so you can take the time to write it out. If your writing is illegible, print. If you don’t have note cards to use, hand write it on your letterhead. Finally, if you must type it, consider hand writing “Congratulations, Tom!” at the top to add a tone of informality. Your letter has to feel as if it was written especially for your contact to be memorable.

2. Keep it simple. Sarah wrote:

Dear Tom,

Congratulations on your outstanding success! I saw your award as one of the Top

 Places to Work. What an honor! You’ve built a business of high caliber. I look 

forward to congratulating you personally at an upcoming Chamber event! 

Sincerely,

Sarah James

Company Name

You want to take care with what you write because an assistant may be the first 

person to read it. She needs to feel that it’s a letter your contact will want to read 

personally. Where there is no assistant, the brief handwritten note will grab the 

executive’s attention and draw him in.

In many cases your prospect may even want to share it with other staff members!

3. Follow-up. Two weeks after sending your note, call to congratulate the prospect in person. Mention that you’d enjoy the opportunity to get together. Suggest that you meet for coffee or connect at the next association event he’s likely to attend. Chances are he’ll remember your letter, take your call, and agree to meet.

Don’t give up on letters just yet. Tweak your approach to distinguish yourself and start building a relationship with the top executives in your prospect list by recognizing their accomplishments. They will appreciate you noticing and want to get to know you.

Kendra Lee is a top IT Seller, Prospect Attraction Expert and author of the award winning book “Selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the Small and Midmarket Business (SMB) segment. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events. To find out more about the author, read her latest articles, or to subscribe to her newsletter visit www.klagroup.com or call +1.303.773.1285.


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Twitter: @KendraLeeKLA


Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Denver-CO/KLA-Group/344889362477


Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kendralee


Amazon:  Selling Against the Goal: How Corporate Sales Professionals Generate the Leads They Need





Speaker: http://www.klagroup.com/news/speaking.cfm