It's a "HOT" Lead!

Prospecting or generating leads is one of the most important steps in the sales process. With out leads, sales would be almost impossible. Sales leads or suspects are organizations or individuals who might possibly purchase the product or service a salesperson offers. If you know how to define a sales prospect and use the correct prospecting method, you will have never ending leads! But what if there was a way where you can skip all the researching like cold calling, looking in your company’s sources, or networking? Well here’s the secret….REFERRALS also known as the “HOT” lead! Sometimes it’s a lot better to work smarter than working harder (but never stop working hard)!

A Referral is a sale lead a customer or some other influential person provides! From my experience, referrals became my best friend and made my life a sales person a heck of a lot easier! It’s just another way to insure trust right off the bat with a new prospect. There are many types of referrals, so don’t hesitate or forget about using them to your advantage!

Live- In Person Referral

- This kind of referral is when one of your clients or some sort of influential source will actually walk you over to a potential prospect. This makes a great introduction on you and you’re company along with the product or service you provide!

Authorized Name Dropping

- This is when your contact gives you a prospects name, phone number, and permission to use their name when you call the prospect. Yes, you still have to cold call the client, but the fact that you have an “in” with someone they know; your chances of closing a sale increase greatly!

Introduction

- In addition to requesting the names of prospects, the salesperson asks the prospect or customer to prepare a note or letter of introduction that can be sent to the potential customer.

Any type of referral is better then no referral at all, but the best one to work for is the Live- In Person Referral! This will give you the best chance at closing another sale and having a successful day! Good luck out there today and remember REFERRALS!

(Not sure how to ask for a referral? Take a look at this helpful video!)

HELLO BLOGOSPHERE!!!!

Hello to my fellow blogosphere family!  My name is Ally, and I’m in my last semester of college at the University of Northern Iowa.  I’m majoring in Graphic Technology and have a minor in Marketing and sales. Many people believe Graphic Technology is all about design, but let me clarify exactly what a GT major is.  Graphic Technologies is the study of technology needed to produce the millions of imaged products that are used in all aspects of our lives. Examples of these products are magazines, books, newspapers and packaging, as well as electronic media such as web sites. It’s one of the 10 largest industries in the United States. The program also includes the study of management and supervision necessary to properly operate successful business enterprises. It is a “growth” industry that includes more than 50,000 individual commercial graphic arts facilities distributed throughout all 50 states. There are an additional large number of “in-plant” shops incorporated into business, service and manufacturing firms. More than one million people are employed in this growing and dynamic industry. Careers include areas such as entry-level supervision, management, sales, estimating, and customer service and publication design positions.
Now you’re probably thinking, “Why is she rambling on and on about this industry if she is doing a sales blog?” Well, little did I know at the time when I first started the program, but sales are huge in this industry! I didn’t know sales would become my passion until I did an internship with a company called Campus Special in the summer of 2012. I spent 12 weeks selling print advertising along with mobile and online. I believe knowing the ins and out of the industry helped me do so well with the internship because I knew what works best for certain companies and the process it takes to get there!
My goal throughout my blog is to give tips regarding sales. Yes, my focus and examples will mostly be advertising sales, but I want my blog to be relatable to anyone in sales! Feel free to give feedback or ask any questions!