Are you one of those salesmen who are still selling your products and services to one person at a time?  Read this article as I share a way for you to leverage your time and your sales skills to reach many potential customers at one time.  By properly implementing a strategy like this, you could multiply the number of sales you are getting in the same amount of time you are spending selling right now.  You can do it through the use of clever marketing techniques and modern technology.

I recently came across a technique that another sales person was using on me that I wanted to apply to my own business.  Here is how it worked.  She had created this system where she contacted potential customers by using post cards.  I don’t know how many of these post cards she sent out, but I assume it was quite a few.  The post card was real simple.

The post card invited me to call a toll free number to listen to a pre-recorded message.  The postcard also had a list of really compelling reasons why I should listen to that audio message.  Obviously I called it.  I was really intrigued by the messages on the post card.  Ultimately, I guess the reason I called was because there was little reason not to.  After all, I would just be listening to an obviously pre-recorded speech.  I could hang up if I didn’t like what I was hearing.  Plus, there was no sales pressure from someone trying to anticipate my objections.  I thought this was a really clever technique.

The audio message on that recording basically explained a few things about my business that had always been a headache to me.  She obviously had done her homework about my business and knew exactly what things about it were the most bothersome to people like me.  Then this message invited me to attend a completely free teleconference where she would be interviewing someone in my industry who had the answers to the questions I was looking for.  This person was supposed to provide answers for fixing those things that I found most bothersome.

Because it was free and because it sounded like she really knew what she was talking about, I figured there was no reason I shouldn’t do this.  There was a prearranged date and time that I was supposed to call this toll free number.   When that date and time arrived, I made the call.

I had high expectations going into the conference.   I was really looking forward to it because she had impressed me so much already.  The conference did not disappoint.  The hosts actually delivered some serious information that opened my eyes to new ways of doing things in my business.  These new ideas really helped me lessen the burden of those bothersome tasks I had mentioned.  That is when it became apparent to me what she was really doing.

She was really establishing report with me and a hundred or so other potential future clients.  She was establishing herself as an authority in my industry.  It was working quite well.  We had a question and answers session at the end of the teleconference where people like me could actually ask the hosts questions directly.  What an absolutely outstanding benefit!   There was no doubt that this lady was for real and not just another sales person trying to waste my time or sell me junk that is not a good fit for me.  She recorded this entire conference and made it available for us to download so we could listen to it over and over again.

I was so impressed with this system that I wanted to learn how to do this myself.  I wanted to apply this sales system into my business much like she had applied it to hers.  This system allowed her to very inexpensively (using post cards & recorded message) create a list of highly prequalified leads to develop.  Then she offered all of us prequalified candidates a free benefit where we learned all of this information at the teleconference.  That is a highly persuasive technique based on the idea of relationship reciprocity in the sales process.   Give the prospect something they want or need for free and they will almost feel obligated to buy from you.

I really could not believe how well developed this system was.  Obviously she had put a considerable amount of time into developing this system.  However, the cost of implementing the system was really inexpensive.  All she really paid for was the postage on the post cards.  She also paid for some toll free sales calls as well as the fee for the conference call service.  Still, her cost per conversion had to be ridiculously low because this system converted so well.

She used this system of direct mail and a free recorded message to screen out all of the less than desirable leads from the juiciest ones.  This had to save her an incredible amount of time in the long run.  She didn’t have to waste any time prequalifying people.   Only the really high probability people would attend this seminar.  Plus, by exposing her material to us gradually in a number of different ways over a period of time, she was able to take us from being luke-warm prospects to really hot ready to buy now prospects.   What an absolutely outstanding method!

Since I was first exposed to her system,  I have since learned more about it.  As it turns out, she was following a system that was developed by a guy who made a ton of money in the carpet cleaning business.  Who would have thought that?  I guess good sales techniques can be applied to just about any business. 

When you look into the techniques she used, you will find that you could create a similar system for yourself quite inexpensively.  You could use a similar system to really leverage your time so that you are selling to hundreds of people at once instead of one at a time.

References:

Post cards

Reliable teleseminar service

Carpet cleaner turned marketing pro