In This Issue Leave Voice Mail Solve, Don't Sell NEW OFFERING Monthly Referrals! Where's Todd? What They Say..

Sincerely,
Todd Natenberg
Sales Trainer/Consultant/Author

Leave Voice Mail

Sales Tip of the Month

"I've made the calls. But the prospects just don't call me back," the rep said.

"Well, what do you say when you leave a message?" I inquired.

"I say my name, my company and ask them to call me back."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"No way! I don't want them to know I'm a salesperson."

Unless you give people a reason to call you back, they won't. Think about your own buying habits. If someone from Publisher's Clearing House were calling to say you won a million dollars, but left a message, "This is SO AND SO. Please call me," would you? No way! But what if the message was, "This is John Smith. You won a million dollars. Please call me."

To be the best of the best in sales, you must never view yourself as just a "salesperson." Be proud! You are more than a salesperson. You are THE SALESPERSON. The prospect is not doing you a favor by returning your call. You are doing the prospect a favor by calling. Your service or product is so amazing, the prospect would be crazy to pass it up. But you must say more than what that service or product is. You must say why the prospect should care.

When you leave a message, state the initial benefit of what you do, otherwise known as your elevator speech. State it precisely as you would if you were speaking with the prospect live.

A few quick tips for leaving voice mail:

1. Speak slowly, but enthusiastic. If you aren't excited, the prospect won't be.

2. Say your name, company and phone number at the start and at the end. Nothing is worse than when someone is interested in your product and they have to play the message ten times to catch your name and number.

3. State your desire to "help." As we said last month, it's a powerful word.

For instance, when I get voice mail, I say:

"Hello, SO AND SO. This is Todd Natenberg, TBN Sales Solutions, (773) 755-1306. I'm sorry I missed you. I'm calling to introduce my company to see if we can HELP. TBN Sales Solutions increases commissions for salespeople and profits for businesses through customized training, coaching and consulting. We establish structures and procedures, through classroom workshops and individual sales coaching, to teach reps to control their own destiny, thereby impacting the bottom line. Please call me. Again, Todd Natenberg, TBN Sales Solutions, (773) 755-1306. Thank you."

A network marketing company, Tastefully Simple, with more than 1,000 sales reps, recently called me back. "I am calling you because of the voice mail you left on Theresa Moberg's voice mail. Please call me. We may be interested in exploring your services," their message to me said.

People can't be interested in what they don't know exists.

Find out more....

	Solve, Don't Sell
Buying Star of the Month "How effective would a salesperson be if there was nothing to sell?" So I heard Mahan Kalsa, a sales trainer and associate of Dr. Stephen Covey, say in his program, "Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play." The answer? They'd be pretty effective, because there would be no hidden agenda, no secret effort to close the deal. The salesperson would be all about addressing just one issue: Helping the prospect solve the problem. Tomas, my personal help desk in the world of computer repair, would make quite the salesperson. Over the last year, Tomas has saved my world of electronics on more than one occasion. And each time he does it with a smile, a thank you for the opportunity to help, and most of all, he provides me the solution I seek: My computer work and no information is lost. So what makes Tomas' this month's buying star? He did the following: 1. Focused on solving my problem pure and simple 2. He did it with a smile on his face 3. He explained if he could find a way to do it, he would. He said if he couldn't, he'd tell me point blank. When I brought my computer into his store two weeks ago, I explained to him I could not import my address book into Constant Contact. My computer was arranged to only export to a .pst file. For the non- technical, which probably is most of us, a .pst file is a way to save an address booklet from Outlook. I told Tomas I needed it to export to a .csv file. Tomas was stumped. He was not sure how to do it. But unlike a common mistake of salespeople that would have involved avoiding my question or concern, he was determined to fix it. He went to the internet, checked his computer books and somehow discovered the way to fix it. He did this at a moment's notice: He focused, focused on my need, focused on a potential solution and did it with a good nature. He did not complain nor try to fit a square peg into a round hole. The result? You're reading it. If you have a "Buying Star of the Month," please submit story to todd@toddnatenberg. We will publish it in an upcoming issue. Read on... »

	NEW OFFERING
Ever wonder how to talk with an introvert when you are an extrovert? Ever wonder how to best motivate an analytical person when you are a carefree person? What about when you are determining whether to hire someone?With Carlson Learning's DISC Profile, you will learn what comprises and how to effectively communicate the four basic personalities regardless of your own: Dominant, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. Learn the following: 1. Who are you? 2. Who are others- supervisors, associates, customers, prospects? 3. How can one another maximize strengths and minimize limitations? 4. How do you recognize the characteristics? TBN Sales Solutions is now offering the DISC Personality Profile for $19.95/copy. Call Todd at (773) 755-1306 or e-mail todd@toddnatenberg.com Full Story »

	Monthly Referrals!
Networking Partners of the Months As part of Todd Natenberg Enterprises' endless pursuit of being a sustaining resource to our clients, as well as helping those who help us, each month we refer the latest and greatest in industries beyond just the world of sales training. Greg Kaufman, TCF Bank, business banking Chicago, IL. Call Greg at (773) 486-1278 or e-mail gkaufman@tcfbank.com for services. Nathan Laurell, Technacity, software development and technical staffing. Call Nathan at (312) 208-6283 or e- mail laurell@TECHnacity.com for services. Full Story »

	Where's Todd?
Look for Todd's article, "Agendas-More than a Way to Organize a Meeting" in the June issue of Selling! magazine. On July 3, Todd will speak to the O'hare Rotary Club about his book, The Journey Within: Two Months On Kibbutz, which chronicles his amazing adventures of self-discovery and personal growth volunteering on an Israeli kibbutz in the summer of 2000. Tune in to Todd on "Possibilities Radio with Dr. Mike Davison" each Friday at 12:30 p.m., Central Time, for his "Sales tip of the Week." The show airs in Phoenix and Providence, Rhode Island on KFNX/AM 1100 and Wale/AM 990 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., with Todd's tip airing at the bottom of the hour. Chicago listeners can follow along live on the internet by clicking on www.nabcinc.com or www.possibilitiesradio.com on the day of the show. FREE CONSULTATION Call Todd at 773-755-1306, outside Chicago 866- 464-0339, or e-mail him at todd@toddnatenberg.com to schedule an appointment. Contact us today! »

	What They Say..
"Through your training, I learned how to schedule my business around my current customers base, as well as prospecting and retention of those prospects. I use a lot of the skills you showed me now as second nature. I do not even realize I employ the skills until after the meeting with a potential client is over, and as you taught me, I review in my head the whole meeting. The same skills have also helped me in my personal life, which is an added bonus. I truly believe in your training course and encourage all my loan officers to attend. Thanks for all your great help and effort." -Chuck Sowers, President, American Mortgage Werks, Inc. "Your training gave me a structure and a system in which to approach the whole idea of marketing, promotion and sales. Whereas before my approach was much more random, more of a shotgun. Now, I have a system in which I approach people, engage the conversation about advertisements on my show. It's a system with structure for following up. "For instance, in the past when a prospects said they were interested and wanted to talk, I'd let it go at that. Now, I say, "Can I call you next week? How does Friday look? Can we do 2 p.m.?" TBN Sales Solutions taught me that."- Mike Davison, Psychologist HAPPY SELLING!

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