We have all been in this particular situation, and I know it’s driven you bananas too. You are late for a meeting, and you need to get a hold of a specific person quickly to mention you’d be running late. You look on your phone for past emails to find your contacts information and after an anxious 30 seconds of searching you notice the bottom of the email has NOTHING! The contacts email signature just says “Brian”. Doesn’t that make you want to scream?
Personally, I just don’t get it? As a sales rep you’re in the business of connecting with people. You are also in the business of making it dead simple for prospects to contact you in times of need.
Don’t you get frustrated when prospects don’t call you back? Had you ever thought about how easy it is for prospects to get a hold of you? You should! I can tell you from a decision-makers prospective, it’s a giant pain the %$&@ when I can’t get a hold of sales reps.
Document Contact Information
As a business owner there are software vendors that want to show us the latest-and-greatest so after a demo, I’ll put their information on file and place that demo on “cognitive park” (set and forget). One day, there will be a Priority Shift in our business where I’ll pull open that file and look for that sales reps contact information. I, like many business owners have the kind of personality that when I have a question, I wanted it 15 minutes ago. So I’ll check my Outlook file folders… and of course there will be no contact information in the signature. I don’t want a response 4 hours from now via email, because my Urgency Meter will drop, and I’ll move onto something else (many times your competitor). I just want to call someone!
If I have the patience, next I’ll check our Salesforce.com account for the contact information…(may times, NOPE, no contact). My frustration starts to mount if I have to call your corporate switch board. I’ve experienced enough bad routing systems and surly receptionists to last a lifetime. Doesn’t this sound like a recipe for a lost business opportunity!
Honestly, if those sales reps competitor call me during this process – they’d have the easiest sale in the world. While it sounds like the silliest, simple thing to change – it’s those little things that could cost you a client. Why take the risk, make your contact info available everywhere. If your client or prospects want to reach you or follow you on social networks, make it easy for them to do so. Make sure you are considering all of the below opportunities for people to connect with you.
Contact Information Suggestions
- Email (including reply and forward – get IT support to help you if you are having challenges with this).
- Include all your relevant social contact details on your email signatures (Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs etc…).
- Voicemail – if you are on the road leave your alternate cell number to avoid phone tag.
- LinkedIn – put as many contact details as possible (cell phone, email address, website, blog, twitter , etc….)
- Business cards – should have your social contact details as well ( LinkedIn , twitter , blogs…)
- Timetrade – if you want to avoid playing appointment phone tag, get yourself a Timetrade account and include it in all your signatures.
The Bottom Line!
If you don’t want to be left behind the 8 ball – you need to start to take action. The following dozen blog posts on utilizing Social Selling strategies using LinkedIn can help you start. If you are really looking for some hidden gems on how you can attract a very specific prospect, I recommend you check out 42 LinkedIn Tips
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jamie@salesforlife.com
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