This blog post is about three things:

1. Smarketing Strategy #5
2. Resistance Free Selling
3. Sales 2.0 and Social Media

In my last blog post I shared Smarketing Strategy #4 : How to put your content where the best prospects go. If you did not have time to read it, below is a short video (0:25) that explains this ‘Here vs. There’ problem and here is a visual that also explains it.

Smarketing Strategy #5 – using the Situation, Target, Plan (STP) framework - is to convert visitors to prospects and then connect with them.

I’m a big fan of using forms on a web site to convert visitors to prospect and I am a big believer of MIT’s lead follow up research - which demonstrates that you are 100X 100 times more likely to reach the person who filled in a form when you follow up in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes.

The report has some other enlightening information and can be downloaded from InsideSales.com. So if you are going to follow up on web leads do so as fast as possible.

I firmly believe that the statistics of those who fill in forms are similar to those who register for webinars. Patrick Cahill writes in an article “How to Pinpoint Real Sales Opportunities with Your Webinars”

People who register for events fall into four categories: immediate opportunities (5%) and short-term leads (20%), long-term leads (50%), and perfectly nice people who will never buy related services (25%).

The challenge is to ask questions that help you figure which group is which without pissing any of them off by being too aggressive.

So when I phone those who complete a form on my web site I always introduce myself (to make sure they know who I am) and the ask for permission to ask three quick questions   …  ”I’m Craig Elias, the Trigger Event Selling™ guy whose information you just filled in a form to download. Can I ask for two minutes of your time to ask three quick questions?”

What are the three best questions to ask?

The best way to answer that question is to start first by asking – What are the most important things to learn?

For me the three most important things I want to learn about those who fill in a form on my web site are:

1. Did they get the email, with the link to the resource the requested?
2. What made them fill in the form?
3. Is there a sales opportunity?

In today’s world of a million and one different spam filters you can never be sure that the email your systems automatically send out gets into the recipient’s inbox.

So, my first question is “Did you receive the email with the link to download the resource?”

Question #2
I am always curious what was it that they saw or heard that captured their attention and made them willing to provide their email address and phone number for in return for access to what is being offered.

So, my second question is “What resonated and made you say it was worth taking the time to complete the form ?”

Question #3
My last and perhaps most important questions is to learn which buying mode the person is in so I can learn if there is a pursuable sales opportunity. Knowing which buying mode someone is in is a key component to Trigger Event Qualifying™.

So my last questions is “What happened recently that made it more relevant or more important?”

If I learn they recently experienced a ‘Want’ Trigger Event and are in the Window of Dissatisfaction™ I ask permission to ask a few more questions so I can understand what problem they are trying to solve or what outcome they are trying to accomplish and then pursue the sale.

If I learn they recently experienced an ‘Afford’ Trigger Event and are already Searching For Alternatives  I ask permission to ask a few more questions so I can understand who they are already talking to and how I can position myself as the least risky alternative.

If I learn they have not recently experienced a Trigger Event and are in the buying mode of Status Quo  - and believe they have money, authority, and influence I start fostering a relationship while raising their expectations.

I use to ask the question where did you hear about this resource but I added that to my forms so I can focus on the what I think are the three most important questions when I get them on the phone.

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of being one of the speakers on a webinar titled “4 Steps to RESISTANCE FREE SELLING” that was put on by iSellUK. Complete the form on the page to access the recording and download the handout.

One of the steps of Resistance Free Selling is selling to those who can afford your services so I went looking for list of companies that who were most likely to afford new services.

During  my search I learned that Silvia Quintanilla of Industry Gems had almost 80 lists of top companies who are highly likely to afford your services. The collection of lists includes:

• Top Banks
• Top Insurers
• Top Hospitals
• Top Manufacturers
• Top Private Companies
• Top Public Companies
• And many more….

Click here to get your copy of The Companies Most Likely to Afford Your Services.

The next Sales 2.0 Conference is about how to leverage Social Media in your sales and marketing efforts.

It will be held in Santa Monica and features great thought leaders like Anneke Seley, Carlos Hidalgo, and Matt Heinz as well as sales and marketing executives from companies like IBM, Salesforce.com, RIM, and Frost & Sullivan.

I’ve had the luxury of attending and presenting at Sales 2.0 conferences in Boston and San Francisco and have always come away with new ways to make sales and marketing more effective and new relationships that help me stay informed of the latest sales and marketing ideas, resources, and success stories.

I would go but I’m travelling to London England to work with one of the world’s largest financial institutions.

Please let me know if you attend so I can call you the week after the event to talk about what you learned.

Top Sales Book of 2010

UPDATE: December 16, 2010 – SHiFT! Wins the Bronze Medal behind industry heavyweights Art Sobczak – Art discusses my Trigger Event Selling™ expertise and the Won Sales Analysis™ worksheet starting on page 40 of his book Smart Calling – and Jill Konrath – Jill has 8 pages about Trigger Events that starts on page 76 of her book SNAP Selling.

My Trigger Event Selling book SHiFT! is a finalist for the Top Sales Book of 2010.

The winner is selected based upon 50% popularity and 50% merit.

I think I have a strong case for winning the merit portion (originality & quality) and because I am up against two of the industry’s heavyweights (Art Sobczak and Jill Konrath), I am asking for assistance with the popularity portion.

Please vote here. If you are so inclined you can vote every day until Wednesday December 13th.

If you would like to read the book before you vote, you can access the preview chapters at http://www.shiftselling.com/book/

If you have an extra 30 seconds can you also vote for:

• iSell by OneSource for what I think is by far the top sales 2.0 solution
• Gerhard Gschwandtner for top sales personality
• Active Conversion for top sales tool

Dreamforce

Since I am at Dreamforce all week I have not had time to construct the scheduled post on the #5 Sales 2.0 tool.

Today I will be at looking for and tweeting on what I think are worthwhile Sales 2.0 tools. Follow the hashtag #infoshift to see what I find.

Next week I will resume the countdown of the top seven sales 2.0 tools with sales 2.0 tool #5.

Have an eventful week!

Craig

This blog post has three items:

1. Trigger Event book giveaway at Dreamforce
2. This month’s winner of $1,500 worth of Trigger Event Selling services
3. Two articles I think are worth reading

Trigger Event Book Giveaway

InfoGroup is giving away copies of my book SHiFT! at Dreamforce ’10 – San Francisco December 6^th- 9^th.

They are being given to all attendees of Clare Hart’s presentation titled “Interactive CRM: Drive Revenues and Outpace the competition” that is from 3:45 – 4:45 on Tuesday December 7^th. Clare will share ideas and resources on how to use Triggers, Social Media & Chatter as your secret competitive advantage. FYI: Clare Hart is the new CEO of InfoGroup

Those who attend receive a copy of the Trigger Event book and can schedule 20 minutes, with me, to develop the best Trigger Event Selling strategies for their business.

I plan to be at the InfoGroup booth Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, all day Wednesday and all day Thursday. Drop by and say hi if you are going to Dreamforce.

$1,500 Prize Winner

Congratulation to Israel Kloss. His answer to my question on how to use IntroMojo – the #7 Sales 2.0 tool – to quickly build report with prospects received the most votes and wins him $1,500 worth of coaching, training , or advice.

Next month I’ll be giving away another $1,500 worth of services to the person who answers my question about the #6 Sales 2.0 tool and gets the most votes for their answer.

Top Two Articles

This month I read over 40 articles looking for something I thought would be worthwhile for the 4,200+ subscribers to this blog. Below are the top two articles I found:

1. Creating Fresh Sales Opportunities, by Jill Konrath, Author of SNAP Selling & Selling to Big Companies.
   There’s nothing I like better than engaging prospects when they’re NOT thinking of making any changes from the status quo.

   This may seem counterintuitive or perhaps even like sales heresy if you’ve spent your career chasing prospects who are already in the buying mode. After all, they already have money in the budget for your product/service and are actively looking for new options.

   So why would I recommend chasing “non-lookers” versus the tempting low-hanging fruit? Lots of reasons: … read the rest of Jill’s article here
   

2. Catch The Window of Opportunity Before it Closes by Gerhard Gschwantder, Founder and Publisher of the world’s leading sales magazine – Selling Power.
   Inside the window of opportunity resides the customer’s agenda. As new waves of information reach the customer, agendas may stall, accelerate, or move sideways. This is one more reason to be relevant, remarkable, and emotionally engaging on the first call.

   Salespeople have more and more Sales 2.0 tools available to help them become relevant through real time access to mission critical information   …   read the rest of Gerhardt’s article here

Do you have questions?

If you have  questions about cold calling, prospecting, or lead generation tune  into this tonight’s TriggerBuzz – Tuesday October 26th 9:00PM-9:30PM Eastern – as I and followers of TriggerBuzz answer the questions submitted.

TriggerBuzz is held the first and last Tuesday of each month and questions are submitted by following TriggerBuzz and sending a direct message to @TriggerBuzz.

Everything you need to submit your questions, listen, or provide answers can be found at http://ShiftSelling.com/TriggerBuzz

Have an eventful week!

Craig +1.403.874.2998

This blog post is about three things:

• My Trigger Event Sellingâ„¢ session at the Sales 2.0 Conference in Boston on June 28^th
• The upcoming book launch for the Trigger Event Sellingâ„¢ book SHiFT!
• A three-part,  no-charge, webinar series on how to harness Trigger Events to turn prospects into customers

Boston

I will be speaking at the Sales 2.0 Conference East on June 28^th in the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel.

I speak from 3:15 to 4:15 on how to Find Hidden Opportunities & Shorten Sales Cycles by Harnessing Triggers Events.

During that session I will:

1. Detail some of my latest Trigger Event Sellingâ„¢ strategies
2. Provide information on a number of creative Trigger Event alert options
3. Give away 80 copies of the preview version of my upcoming Trigger Event Sellingâ„¢ book SHiFT! Harness The Trigger Events That TURN PROSPECTS INTO CUSTOMERS
4. Share information of my upcoming three-part,  no-charge, webinar series with Tibor Shanto, the co-author of my book.

Call or text my cell phone number (+1.403.874.2998) if you are attending the Sales 2.0 Conference and would like to connect in person at the conference.

Book Launch

Now that my Trigger Event book SHiFT! has gone through the final approval processes with the publisher and the logistics company, it should be added to all the major online and offline book stores by late August or early September.

With endorsements from Steven M.R. Covey, Keith Ferrazzi, Dr. Ivan Misner, Gerhard Gschwandtner, Tim Draper we look forward to helping forward thinking sales and marketing professionals grow sales faster by harnessing Trigger Events to get in front of highly motivated decision makers at EXACTLY the right time.

Not wanting to wait until September to launch the book, 80 copies of the preview version of the book will be available to participants of the Trigger Event session at the Sales 2.0 Conference in Boston and the first five people who call and share a success story about how they used Trigger Events to close a big sale. If you get my voice mail be sure to leave a message.

Three Part Webinar Series

On Tuesday July 13^th Tibor Shanto and I will be delivering the first of three webinars (one each on the three major types of Business-To-Business Trigger Events).

The first webinar “Exploiting Untapped Opportunities: 3 Strategies for Using Executive Sales Triggers” will share insights into the many Business-To-Business sales opportunities created by a single executive change and discuss unique strategies to gain an unfair advantage over your competition when executive changes happen.

Each one-hour webinar starts at 1:00PM Eastern / 10:00AM Pacific on the 2nd Tuesday of every month – July 13^th, August 10^th, September 14^th.

Stay tuned for registration links for the other two on webinars.

Have an Eventful week!

Craig