Sales Smarts 101 - Call Back All Hot Prospects Immediately!

There is an auto consortium that offers some of the classiest names in any showroom: Porsche, Mercedes, Jaguar, and Rolls-Royce among them.

It can also boast a very poor batting average when it comes to earning my business, despite the fact that it is the closest venue in which to have my cars serviced. But this natural advantage is something the collective dealerships constantly fritter away.

Recently, I went telephone shopping for a new set of wheels. Because I needed another ride right away, time was of the essence.

I phoned multiple dealerships and tried a number of nameplates.

Finally, I settled on one, and the only question was whether the individual dealership: (1) Had the appropriate car in stock in the color I wanted ; and (2) Whether the dealership would honor the killer of a lease deal that the manufacturer was offering through its web site.

I tried calling the consortium’s dealership three times, leaving two messages, and explaining exactly what I needed to one flesh and blood rep.

Three days later, I got a return call, indicating they had the right car in stock.

But at least 24 hours before that call, I had happily driven away with the car I sought, provided in this case by a competing dealership.

That place did not earn my business because it offered a superior deal, because the deal was the same, described to a T by the manufacturer. So, no matter where I went in the United States, I wasn't going to get a better deal than THAT deal.

The salesperson wasn’t charming; in fact, she was repulsive, and I had to deal with her supervisor to get taken care of.

The only reason they earned my business was that they responded to my initial call, said they had what I wanted in stock, and I set a date to drive it that afternoon, after which I inked the deal.

If you think you have to be a genius to earn business, well, it’s not true.

But minimally, you need to be competent, and this means dropping everything else when you get a hot lead, someone who stands up and all but yells, “I'm qualified and this is what I want. Will you sell it to me?”

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top trainer, conference and convention speaker, and sales, customer service, and negotiation consultant. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is also the best-selling author of 12 books, more than 1,000 articles and several popular audio and video programs. His seminars are sponsored internationally and he is a faculty member at more than 40 universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. Gary brings over two decades of sales, management and consulting experience to the table, with impressive academic credentials: A Ph.D. from USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola Law School, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies..

His web site is: http://www.customersatisfaction.com and he can be seen on CNBC at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=417455932# and reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com His blogs include: YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS! and ALWAYS COLD CALL! At: http://www.alwayscoldcall.blogspot.com

Other articles by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

Choose A More Productive Way to Procrastinate! - by Dr. Gary S. Goodman
I'm fairly confident that procrastination, the tendency to put off doing important things, is universal. If Margaret Mead, the famed anthropologist, had sought out data confirming this trait, she would have found plenty, even among remote tribal communities. Happily, there is a better way of overcoming the temptation to procrastinate than by engaging in compulsive list making and self-downing, says this top speaker, best-selling author, and TV and radio commentator.

Customer Service is FREE! - by Dr. Gary S. Goodman
A few years ago, Philip Crosby wrote a best-selling book, QUALITY IS FREE. Countering the perception that producing flawless products is costly, Crosby demonstrates that the savings achieved, especially in manufacturing, by doing something right the first time, and by avoiding recalls and repairs, is an effort that more than pays for itself. In the same spirit, I'm here to shout from the rooftops that CUSTOMER SERVICE IS FREE...

Scripts Are Essential, But You Need The Three T's to Bring Them to Life - by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

When I write scripts for customer service and for selling, I test them, tweak them here and there, and then I deploy them at my clients’ sites.

Minimally, it’s a systematic process of validation, and once my scripts have been

Cold Calling Is for Winners, Not Whiners - by Dr. Gary S. Goodman
Peter F. Drucker, management sage and my late professor, said: We don't succeed in areas we don't respect. Clearly, this pertains to dialing for dollars, don't you think? How many among us truly admire and respect cold calling?

You Can Still Sell Anything By Telephone! - by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

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This seemed like a preposterous boast on my part when I titled my best-selling book,

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