Rick Settled in and said, Even if I can get sales
gals and guys to put data in a contact system for their customers I’ve never
been able to get them to give me prospect data. Why is this?”
Kate looked over her glasses and said, ”Sounds to me like
you’ve had that problem more than once.”
That’s when I said, “No, he is the problem.”
Gail asked, “What do you mean Fletch”
“Well,” I recall a time when I was trying to get his sales
function organized and he just would not go along with any kind of data entry
or follow up. It was amazing. He’d meet someone while picking up a rental car
and half the time wind up with a meeting in their headquarters half way across
the country a week later.
The other half of the time he wouldn’t even get a business
card so we could follow up with them and set a date.”
“But I learned, “ Rick objected.
“How?” Gail asked.
“I heard a bout the results he got for another company from
their CEO. Their training division was way behind the previous year. They had
gone to a trade show to network for business just before the CEO hired Fletch
to get them out of the hole. After the introductions Fletch asked the VP of the
division who was going to write the thank you notes to the 36 leads from the
trade show.
The VP told him that they didn’t do that sort of thing.
The CEO told me that his phone rang and on speaker he made
it clear that the VP would follow instructions or he would clear out his desk.
As a result, the three folks that attended the show, including the VP, wrote
notes. Within a month they signed over $2 million in new business from
companies they met at that trade show.
Kate said, “I’m guessing you didn’t run into that CEO by
accident, you were introduced. Right?”
Rick answered, “Yeah. It seemed like we just met over drinks
here one night.
Then he looked at Fletch and said, “You devil!”
“How did that change you ?” Gail asked.
I made it a point to get cards and my assistant put them
into a system and we started contacting them on a regular basis. He put
together a combination of letters, emails and phone calls and so I never went
on a trip to a major city without having meetings with more than one company,
usually with a client and at least one prospect. I like people so it was always
fun and keeping track of them as they changed to more powerful jobs made it the
most profitable time in my company’s history.
Chris said, “So you were doing lead nurturing before there
was a way to automate I like we have today.”
“Yes,” I said, “But it worked because Rick is a brilliant
networker and a killer salesman who learned that a collaborative approach to
marketing, sales and customer service generates the trust that pays off big
time.”
Does collaborative selling work for your company?
Jerry Fletcher understands how Trust builds businesses,
careers and lives of joy. Learn more about his marketing perspective at www.JerryFletcher.com
Hear him speak about the Trust Goldmine at www.NetworkingNinja.com