TeleArk Sales Tips and Training Materials

Welcome to the TeleArk Sales Tips and Training Materials index. Here you will find links to our recent sales tips and training materials from senior sales managers at TeleArk.

Sales Tips and Training Materials Index

  • 8 Tips for Successful Lead Nurturing
    “Lead Nurturing can help convert 29% more leads.” – Sirius Decisions Specific Interest. Track all interactions and get better conversions by creating specific question about situations where the prospect’s expectations are higher than their realities. When the is a difference between expectations and realities the difference always has consequences, called 'Pains'. Evaluate All Responses. Track all responses, not just your website opens and links clicked, and pages your leads go to after they click....
  • How to Slay a Sales Slump in 15 Minutes or Less
    Are your sales slumping?  You're not alone. Sooner or later we all stumble into a rut.  The longer you stay in the rut, the worse things seem to become.  Sound familiar? How Most Reps Respond to a Slump? Here's the thing: When sales dip and stay dipped many salespeople start to point fingers to explain, complain or justify their less than stellar performance. They blame the crummy lead list, they blame the market or the economy, they blame the company or the product they are selling...
  • It Is Not The Economy - It is You!
    The economy has created some tough times for many sales reps.  Fortunately it doesn't have to be that way. Companies still have to buy goods and services no matter what the economy is doing. They may buy differently, they may buy less, but they still have to buy. Top sales performers in every industry are still winning their share of the business - are you? When times get tough, what can you do to become the "rock star" salesperson? 1.) Don't waste energy on insignificant activities. The Problem: You'...
  • Advantages to Outsourcing Outbound Sales Campaigns
    Telesales has the invaluable advantage of personal human contact, which cannot be said of many other direct marketing methods. According to Robert J. McHatton from Total Telesales, “Used correctly by professionals, the telephone is the most cost-efficient, flexible and statistically accountable medium available. At the same time, the telephone is still very intimate and personal. It is individual-to-individual." Outbound Telesales is an important tool when it comes to customer care. Telesales sales...
  • Drive Predictable Revenue by Managing Your Revenue Machine
    According to a CSO Insight's Sales Performance Optimization study[1], only 52% of sales reps met quota in 2010 and companies achieved only 78% of their revenue plans. Companies faced tough questions about their ability to deliver consistent predictable revenue. Today's best companies are using a new revenue engines that leverage repeatable marketing and new sales techniques to grow revenue more reliably.  The following are a list of those strategies that were used by many of these organizations to...
  • Become Fully Accountable for Your Success
    Have you ever done something that you know is not in your best interest? Have you ever avoided doing something that is in your best interest? In either of these scenarios you were probably able to justify your behavior, as well as, your line of thinking and most of all; avoid being accountable.While that may sting a little bit, allow me to introduce to you a new definition for this type of behavior. A diversionary tactic is an action, excuse, or belief you hide behind that justifies your behavior and...
  • Questioning a prospect is a good thing, right?
    Questioning builds rapport, uncovers needs, gathers information, and identifies possible objections; there are a lot of benefits to questioning.  Or so it would seem. But the truth of the matter is that there are some questions that telephone users should avoid.  They annoy your prospects and they can threaten the success of your call. Here are the five most maddening questions of all time. Worst Question #1: How are you today?   Nothing, absolutely nothing, puts a prospect on the...
  • The Easiest Nine More Calls a Day You Can Make
    The first 30 minutes of the workday will set the tone for the entire day. For most people, the first half hour of the day consists of settling into the office routine by grabbing a cup of coffee, checking the internet, and, of course, chatting with others. Now, I will never be one to say we have to avoid coffee and/or socializing, but I will be the first to say it is advantageous to put these activities aside until later.One of the ways that top-performing salespeople separate themselves from others is by...
  • Retro-Prospecting: Get Your Prospects to Remember You
    I’ve just invented a new catch-phrase — Retro-Prospecting — and if you like the concept, you’re welcome to steal it from me. Anyone who has been in B2B sales for any length of time appreciates the fact that no matter how great your selling skills are, if you don’t have someone to use them on, you don’t make a sale. Duh… talk about a blinding flash of the obvious!The Good Old Days Prospecting today is far more challenging than it used to be. Sales managers who are long in the tooth like me will remember the...
  • Are You Stuck On Sales Auto Pilot?
    The other day I had to pick up something at my local mall.  I dislike malls.  And so I was ecstatic to find a parking spot 3 cars from the main door.  Ten minutes later, mission accomplished.  I hunted for my store, when in and killed what I needed, paid and dragged it out of the store all in just ten minute- man shopping. I clicked my car’s remote door opener and jumped into the driver’s seat. I was about to turn on the ignition when I realized, “This is NOT my car!”  Worried the...
  • Who Else Hates Making Cold Calls?
    Are you a member of the “I Hate Making Cold Calls” club? It’s a big club. If you’ve been in sales for any length of time, it’s a good bet that you’re a member. If you’re new to the profession, it’s just as good a bet that you’ll be joining soon. Truth be told, nobody likes making cold calls. Suppose you could call warm prospects rather than cold prospects. Would you be more comfortable making the calls? Would you be more likely to do so? Of course you would. So, how and where do you find warm prospects to...
  • Ten Reason to Outsource Your Cold Call Prospecting
    Few, if any, sales executive or salespeople will cite cold calling and prospecting as one of their favorite tasks. So from a strictly financial perspective, does it make sense to outsource your lead generation and cold call prospecting? Here's a quick look at the top reasons that businesses turn to Sales Process Outsourcing (SPO). Cost. Big businesses can afford to maintain inside sales departments. However, for most businesses a cold calling and appointment setting service is a money burner. Do the...
  • Ten Basics in Sales
    The following are 10 basic tips that every sales person should follow: Plan your sales call in a way that communicates to your POC (point of contact) the fact that this call is important, significant and they are going to attend the appointment. It is your responsibility to make yourself understood to the POC.  Talk to the POC, not at the POC. A planned sales process is always superior to an improvised presentation.  With a process, you can better observe the POC's responses. No attempt to close...
  • Is Differentiation Working Against You?
    In an effort to establish uniqueness and differentiation, companies push the boundaries of technology, innovation, and out-of-the-box thinking to add unique selling features to their products and value added aspects to their services. As products and services become more feature-rich, they also become more complex—perhaps beyond the perceived needs of prospective customers. (Does a cell phone have to be a camera, mp3 player, video player, web browser, GPS navigation device, and hand-held video game all...
  • Agonize or Organize
    The most frequent excuse for not reaching a goal or completing a task is “There isn’t enough time.”  The business owner grumbles about being bogged down with budget meetings, conference calls, vendor disputes and not having the time to launch the strategic planning sessions he’s been talking about for several months.  The sales manager complains about wasting time putting out fires, approving special orders, chasing down reports, crunching sales numbers and not having the time to complete an...
  • Modern B2B Sales - Effective Sales Process
    Only 38% of an inside sales reps time is spent on direct sales activities.  “Ouch”. Today there is an unprecedented level of scrutiny into sales operations and demand for more reliable revenue production and forecasting. Few executive management teams are willing to leave sales alone and hope for the best. Many companies strive to balance the efforts of available resources to maximize sales productivity. Increasingly, a key component in realizing this vision is having a resource that supports sales...
  • What To Look For In A Sales Qualified Opportunity (SQO)
    It is not just reaching your ideal profile prospect – it is what comes next. TeleArk’s cold call script is built by one of the nations’ largest and best sales training companies.  The script has been tested by more than 300,000 salespeople and it works. About TeleArk’s ScriptsTeleArk’s script format was developed by the Sandler Sales Institute (http://www.sandler.com). The Sandler System takes away the guessing, hope and manipulation.  The script is not designed to pitch features and benefits....
  • Ruts in Sales Can Become Graves
    We all have means of deluding ourselves.  If our favorite baseball team drops to last place, we convince ourselves that it’s only a temporary slump. If stocks lose a lot of points we may tell ourselves that it will come back soon.  If we put off an important task we may kid ourselves by saying that another day is better for it. Salespeople too, can practice self-delusion.  They may blame bad luck for their failure to get an order.  Or they might make their supervisor the whipping...
  • Are You Impressive or Impactful?
    Finding the right words to describe your product or service can be an agonizing task. As you well know, in today's crazy business environment it's tough to stand out from the crowd and impress corporate decision makers. That's why all the time, effort and resources invested in this valiant challenge are so necessary. But is it really? Before you answer, consider this meticulously crafted statement found on a technology company's website: "We deliver an innovative, enterprise-class business integration...
  • Optimizing Sales Leads: From Inquiry to Closure
    A growing concern for many sales managers is optimization of sales leads. Each year selling professionals try so hard to get a plethora of business development leads, unfortunately unearthing less than 47 percent of what is needed. Worse, over 50 percent remain dormant. Managers postulate, but to no avail. The numbers barely move. In recent research for this article, several clients utilize the Internet for sales leads with less than 5 percent reaching closure. To develop and optimize a productive lead...
  • Motivation
    Do your salespeople, individually, care whether or not your company is the "Best in the World" or "The Leader in Widget Performance?" Undoubtedly that is important to them, but is that what gets them up in the morning, and keeps them going out in the field? No. Salespeople sell for their own reasons, not the company's. Your job as a sales manager is to help them achieve their personal goals so the company can achieve its goals, too. Find out about their personal goals. While this may...
  • The Perfect Sales Professional
    If the perfect salesperson exists, I have yet to meet them. I’ve seen salespeople achieve perfection on a particular day with a particular customer. But they would not claim to be models of perfection 365 days a year. But striving for excellence or perfection is something else.   As a salesperson you should constantly try to do you’re very best. You may not hit perfection on a day-to-day basis but there are many times when you will reach the heights. Now let’s take a look at...
  • Time Management: Subtraction or Addition?
    Are you too busy?  Too busy to spend time with your family, to exercise,  read a good book, take a vacation or take class that will expand your skills?  Did you ever wonder how it was that your time became so full?  Wasn’t  the advent of new technology suppose to provide mankind with added time? Many people tell me that they would like to make their lives better, and that they think that they know how to do so.  The problem is, not enough time and way too many responsibilities...
  • How To Present Your Services and Products With Little Resistance
    How well do you tell your sales story with power, believability and behavior? How effective are you at virtually guaranteeing that your prospect will become a customer? In order to do this successfully there are two simple principles to keep in mind, no matter what you are selling. Here they are: People buy anything they will buy for their reasons, not   your (or mine) Prospects expect salespeople to exaggerate the value of their product or service (you or me, included!) Once you understand...
  • How Do You Change The Behavior of an Experienced Salesperson
    Every Manager of Salespeople, in one way or another, eventually ask that question - How Do You Change The Behavior of an Experienced Salesperson?  The words may be different but the question is the same. In this downturn economic environment, it's a universal question. If you haven't confronted the issue yet, it's only a matter of time that you will. Most sales forces are made up of a variety of people, ranging from the inexperienced rookies, to the veterans who have been around, one way or another...
  • Outsourcing Your Sales Process: You Might Be Crazy As A Fox : from The Business Monthly by Bruce McIndoe
    Outsourcing, often referred to as the most important management development of the decade, is based on the principal “if it isn't your company's core competency, then takes the activity or business process and contract it out.” In his book “Strategic Outsourcing,” Maurice Greaver wrote, “It [outsourcing] is an indispensable tool for world-class companies, allowing them to improve their products and services, lower their costs, and enhance their flexibility.”   The...
  • Become Fully Accountable For Your Success
    Have you ever done something that you know is not in your best interest? Have you ever avoided doing something that is in your best interest? In either of these scenarios you were probably able to justify your behavior as well as your line of thinking and most of all; avoid being accountable.   While that may sting a little bit, allow me to introduce to you a new definition for this type of behavior. A diversionary tactic is an action, excuse, or belief you hide behind that justifies your behavior and...
  • Sales Ethics: Oxymoron or Opportunity?
    A study in Business Horizons magazine from Indiana University, found that customers increasingly base their buying decisions on whether they believe a company is ethical. Credibility has replaced depth of product knowledge, trust has replaced being likable and partnership has replaced relationship. Cynicism promotes fickle buying habits. If we wish to improve our relationship with our clients, we must let the “stakeholders” know when they participate in undertakings with us that it benefits...
  • Smarts Versus Knowledge
    During World War II the Germans developed tank barricades that American troops found impenetrable. At several points these obstacles virtually slowed, to a stop, our drive on the Western Front. The American command called on its foremost experts for a solution to the problem. Top officers and engineers spent weeks unsuccessfully seeking an answer. It was a G.I., with little education, yet smart and imaginative, that was clever enough to beat the Germans at their own game. This G.I. envisioned a strong,...