10 Prospecting Voicemail Don’ts

Many of us may use prospecting as a method to reach new clients and probably not a day goes by when you don’t get directed to someone’s voice mail. For some, this can be an unnerving experience. But with a little forethought and preparation, leaving an intelligent-sounding and effective voice mail can be less difficult than you might fear. Kendra Lee, author of The Sales Magnet and president of KLA Group, has identified the most common voice mail mistakes in this handy:

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Below we offer a summary of the top 10 things she suggests that you avoid doing when leaving a voice mail.

Being Dishonest. It might be tempting to act as if you’ve been trying to get the prospect on the phone for awhile. But if this isn’t true, “playing pretend” comes off as odd and dishonest. Instead, think of a better way to make an inroad with the individual in question.

Don’t Ramble. If you’ve ever found yourself babbling when you’ve unexpectedly landed in someone’s voice mail, you know how unprofessional this appears. Prepare what you would like to say in advance and then, stick to it.

Focusing on Your Products and Services. At first glance, this seems like an odd addition to this list. However, it’s important to remember that your goal is to get your prospect’s interest. Rather than going on about your services, think about how you can address the client’s needs and mention that in your voice mail.
Forgetting to Leave Your Contact Information. All too often, people forget this crucial detail. Lee suggests that you provide your name and number at the beginning and end of the message. Make this a regular habit for all of your voice mails and as you become accustomed to doing so, you’ll find yourself less likely to make this mistake.

Giving Up Too Easily. A lot of salespeople throw in the towel after 2-3 calls. But it can take as many as 7-8 calls to get a return phone call. Be persistent.
Being Overly Brief. If your prospect isn’t being given a compelling reason to return your phone call, he won’t. Don’t make your message so short that he fails to see the value in contacting you for more information.

Addressing Too Many Topics. You might provide multiple services that you want to let your prospect know about. But trying to cover a wide variety of subjects in a voicemail is to your detriment. Instead, choose one topic and stick to it.

Being Passive. Sitting around waiting for your phone to ring is never enjoyable. Once you’ve left a voice mail, have a plan in place for when you’ll follow-up.
Forgetting Your Referral. If somebody referred you to this prospect, it’s crucial that you mention that in your voice mail. In this case, “name dropping” is your foot in the door and you want to take full advantage.

Talking Too Rapidly. Do you sound like you’re talking so fast that you don’t have time to take a breath? Aim to use a conversational pace in voice mails, rather than racing through your message.

Celebrating 15 years in Business!

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.

Mortgage Industry & Thoughtfulness: A Daily Work Habit Worth Cultivating

Each day you probably engage in dozens of habits that you don’t even think twice about. You wake up in the morning, shower, check your email, drink a cup of coffee, etc. And while you probably find those habits enriching in some way, there is one daily work habit that promises the most enrichment—thoughtfulness. By cultivating a habit of thoughtfulness, you can experience greater happiness, better relationships, and more business success. If you are in the mortgage industry, having your past clients refer business is an important part of cultivating new business.

What do we mean by thoughtfulness? The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines thoughtfulness as “showing concern for the needs or feelings of other people.” In essence, thoughtfulness means that you place a value on treating the people who you encounter throughout the day with kindness.

To make thoughtfulness become a habit, we recommend setting an intention. In the morning before you leave for work, remind yourself of your goal to be thoughtful throughout the day. You can also place reminders in locations you’ll be likely to notice them such as your bathroom mirror, car, and office phone.

As you go about your day, look for opportunities to respond thoughtfully. This might mean maintaining a positive demeanor—rather than rolling your eyes—when you’re in a long line at the gas station. Or maybe you remember a client’s birthday with a card. It could mean realizing that someone might be having a bad day and showing more patience with their behavior than you typically would.

When you begin to cultivate an attitude of thoughtfulness, you’ll find that people start to respond to you differently. They’ll often be more engaging and kind themselves. In turn, you’ll find that you enjoy your interactions more which will help you to maintain a positive attitude throughout the day. This will only add to your professional success.

Celebrating 15 years in Business!

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.

Mortgage Marketing: 7 Tips to Get Your Prospecting Emails Read

Do you know what the email open rate is for your prospects? It probably ranges between 15-20%, according to Constant Contact. That’s a fairly low number and it means that there’s lots of potential for improvement. Fortunately, there are things that you can do to increase the likelihood that your emails will be read:

Get Personal. People appreciate emails that have a personal touch. Avoid using stiff, dated language and instead, try to incorporate the type of language that you would use if you were communicating in person. Also, make sure to address the prospect by name.

Use A Compelling Subject Line. The subject line is what’s going to motivate your prospect to open the email. As such, you’ll want to mention in your subject line what benefit you are offering the recipient. But, make sure to avoid spam triggers by removing exclamation points and the word, “free.” Spam filters are more likely to direct these emails straight to the trash bin.

Choose A Great Opener. Start your email with a good hook. Some suggestions include a shocking statistic, a humorous anecdote, or a relevant question. Your goal is to draw the reader in and the more interesting you can be from the start, the more likely your prospect will want to read the rest of your email.

Remain Consumer-Focused. While it’s tempting to boast about your credentials, think about the email from the customer’s point of view. Rather than make your emails egocentric in nature, think about your prospects’ needs and the benefits that are important to them. Then, address those issues upfront. The more that you can make your email consumer-focused, the better it will resonate with the reader.

Include a Call-To-Action. Every email campaign should feature a call-to-action. What is it exactly that you would like your prospect to do? Do you want them to set up a free consultation? Would you like them to sign up for your newsletter? In your email, choose one action item that you would like your prospect to take. Then, include it in 3 places throughout the email.

Design for Mobile. Almost half of all emails are read on mobile. If you don’t take this into account—and design your email for laptop reading only—you’re missing out on half of your market right out of the gate. Instead, create emails that are optimized for mobile. This is becoming more and more important as the number of consumers in the US with smart phones continues to grow.

Consider Timing. Think about when your prospects are most likely to have the time to review your email. For instance, a bad time to reach out to them would be over the weekend when they might not be checking email during their off-hours. If your email marketing software allows it, try testing your campaign. Send half of your emails in the morning and half of them later in the day. See if you notice any significant difference in open rates.

Celebrating 15 years in Business!

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail,Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.

5 Ways to Excel at Customer Service

Consumers are two times more likely to share their bad customer service experiences than they are to talk about positive experiences, says a recent report. Furthermore, 55% of consumers say that they would be willing to pay more for a better customer service experience. These statistics highlight just how important good customer service is to sales. When you offer your clients exceptional service, their satisfaction level increases and they’re more willing to remain loyal to your brand.

Below we offer up our top tips for excelling in the customer service arena:
Have a Positive Attitude. Who would you rather do business with–someone who’s positive and friendly or someone who is frequently out-of-sorts? People prefer to do business with those who are cheerful. When a survey asked respondents what qualities they expect from someone in the customer service field, overwhelmingly they chose a positive attitude as their number one attribute.

Appreciate Your Clients. It’s not often that businesses will go the extra mile to show customers that their support is appreciated. This makes the businesses that do really stand out. There are all kinds of ways that you can show clients that you care without breaking the bank. For example, after working with them, send them a thank-you note or call in a week to see how things are going. Make it your aim to let your clients know that their business is appreciated.

Be Responsive. There are few things worse than lodging a complaint or an inquiry to someone who doesn’t bother to acknowledge or address the issue in question. If a client comes to you with a problem, be responsive and work to resolve it promptly. People will respect your professionalism.

Arrive on Time. If you’ve ever waited 20 minutes for someone to show up to a business meeting, you’ve probably felt that your time wasn’t very important to the late attendee. If you’re the one frequently running late, you’re communicating in a subtle way to others that you don’t value their time. After all, you probably managed to show up promptly for those events that were important to you (remember your last job interview?). Show clients that they’re valued by giving yourself extra time to arrive at meeting locations; you can always get caught up on your email until they arrive.

Be Reliable. Think of some of the all-stars you’ve worked with in the past. These are the people you can count on to handle any issue. Once you give them something to work on, you can trust them to do it without continually following up to check their progress. People appreciate this kind of reliability. Strive to be an all-star for your clients. They’ll value knowing that they can trust you to do what they requested without micromanaging.

Celebrating 15 years in Business!

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.

Marketing: The Tip to Selling? Become A Better Listener

Oftentimes you’ve probably heard it said that listening is one of the most important talents that a good salesperson possesses. There’s some truth to this. By being skilled in this arena, a salesperson has the opportunity to listen to a prospect’s objections, address them, and hopefully, make the sale. Yet even though most salespeople understand that active listening is critical, many of them fail to do so. The good news is that people can become better listeners with practice–below we offer some suggestions for accomplishing that goal.

Develop the Right Mindset.
You may believe that being a better  listener means that you’ll be bored or feel impatient during sales calls. This negative assumption is to your detriment. Rather than surmise that the conversation will be less enjoyable, remain open-minded. Trust that when you’re actively listening, you’ll derive more from meetings with sales prospects than you would otherwise.

Prepare in Advance.
One reason that salespeople struggle to listen to prospects is because they are considering how they’re going to respond to what the prospects are saying. Typically, they’re coming up with good follow-up sales questions. Yet as Jill Konrath, author of SNAP Selling states, “Your brain is unable to do two things simultaneously. It can either listen OR it can formulate questions to ask. Not both. Just one.” She recommends that rather than formulate questions on the fly, you prepare for sales calls by drawing up a list of questions in advance that you can ask potential clients. When prospects respond to your prepared questions, you’ll feel more comfortable allowing yourself to relax and listen, knowing that you have a list of good questions to draw from. Click HYPERLINK “http://www.jillkonrath.com/sales-blog/bid/160825/One-Easy-Tip-for-a-Successful-Sales-Conversation” HYPERLINK “http://www.jillkonrath.com/sales-blog/bid/160825/One-Easy-Tip-for-a-Successful-Sales-Conversation” HYPERLINK “http://www.jillkonrath.com/sales-blog/bid/160825/One-Easy-Tip-for-a-Successful-Sales-Conversation” HYPERLINK “http://www.jillkonrath.com/sales-blog/bid/160825/One-Easy-Tip-for-a-Successful-Sales-Conversation”here to watch a 90-second video she created that explains this process in more detail.

Remove Distractions.
It’s rare these days that we place our full focus on listening. Oftentimes, we’re adjusting our clothing, glancing at our email, seeing who our latest text was from, etc. Make sure that before trying to listen to someone, you minimize distractions as much as possible. And when your mind is the culprit –with thoughts of what you should eat for dinner and whether the dry cleaning is ready to be picked up–make an effort to catch it in its tracks. Stop and redirect your attention to your prospect. Since great listeners are hard to come by, your prospect will appreciate how intently you’re focusing which will help to build rapport.

Celebrating 15 years in Business!

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.

Sales Enablement: How Marketing and Sales Can Align to Create Synergy

More and more, people are talking about sales enablement. But what is it? While definitions on the web vary, we define sales enablement as those functions and processes that make it easier for sales teams to achieve their objectives. In this post, we’ll explore how to align your marketing and sales departments to improve communication and promote sales enablement, ultimately creating synergy.

One of the most important things that an organization can do for sales enablement is to encourage collaboration between sales and marketing. Say, for example, that several clients mention to a sales representative that product XYZ could be improved in a certain way. If this information goes no farther than the sales rep, valuable insight on how the product could be enhanced is lost. This feedback is very important to the marketing team, but without regular collaboration, oftentimes it doesn’t occur.

Additionally, your sales representatives will find that another benefit of collaboration is preparation. If the marketing team has a major promotion coming down the pipeline, the sales team needs to know about it so reps can be prepared to address customer questions and adjust for the influx in business. Without having a good understanding of the key initiatives that the marketing team is planning, there’s the risk that salespeople will drop the ball. Unfortunately, this means that there’s a good likelihood that the initiatives will be less profitable than anticipated.

By working together, sales and marketing can develop realistic growth objectives, identify their target consumers, share ideas, and discuss strategies for lead generation. To accomplish this, set up meetings on a monthly basis. Develop an agenda that highlights the topics for discussion. Allow members from both teams to discuss their ideas for improving the sales process. The increased engagement between both groups will ultimately be very beneficial to your sales enhancement objectives.

Celebrating 15 years in Business!

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.

Just Say Yes to Yesware for Direct Email

We’ve all had that experience of sending out a carefully crafted email and then waiting and waiting to hear back from the recipient. If you’re in sales, you know how frustrating it can be to not know if your prospect has read your email yet. Fortunately, now there’s a Google plug-in called Yes-ware that allows you to track that information. It’s a great tool for salespeople who want to know exactly what’s happening with their outgoing direct emails after they hit the “Send” button.

The best thing about Yesware is that it notifies you when your email has been read by a recipient. Wondering whether you should follow up with a prospect? By receiving an email notification that he’s read your email, you’ll have a better idea if a follow up phone call is appropriate. No more wondering if you’re being overly aggressive.

Also, and this is a really cool feature—you can find out if your prospects are clicking on the links that you include or opening the attachments that you send. By finding out if they visited your website or read the information that you provided, you have a strong indicator of how likely they are to be interested in your services. As such, you can manage your time better by focusing on those potential clients who display stronger interest.

Tired of recreating emails from scratch? With Yesware, you can create and store a list of templates to address each aspect of the sales experience, from prospecting to following up with past clients. This convenient feature allows you to spend less time developing your marketing communications and more time interacting with your clients in person.

If you’re still not sure if Yesware is for you, we encourage you to give this plug-in a try by clicking HYPERLINK “http://www.yesware.com/”here–it’s free and we’re happy to report that it’s compatible with today’s most popular email client, Gmail. This highly-rated tool will improve your email productivity and help you to manage your prospect communications—a must for salespeople.

Celebrating 15 years in Business!

Titan List is a full service Advertising and Design agency specializing in Direct Mail, Mortgage Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Website / Graphic Design. Titan List has been around since 1998, and has a team of highly qualified individuals with experience in the marketing trends that fit your business. Unlike other agencies that source their work out, Titan List & Mailing handles the entire campaign in-house. Looking for a special list of data for your business? We can customize any data list for your company.