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How often do you reach out to ALL of your clients and A-List contacts within a 2-day period? For most of us, it rarely happens, if ever. And yet it is one of the smartest things you can do as a salesperson.
Two weeks ago, this is exactly what I did, and I am still amazed at how easy it was and what extraordinary results I achieved.
I was sitting in my office on a warm, sunny day when I had a realization: there are only 2 more months of good weather! I also realized that if I wanted to book more sailing events this year, I had to act NOW.
So I put together a selling sailing campaign:
1. I created a list of all my local clients and A-List contacts
2. Wrote up a loose script of what I wanted to say in conversations and voicemails
3. Poured a cup of very good, very strong coffee
4. Called every person on the list
4a. On the calls, I described a recent sailing outing, how we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge, past Alcatraz and around Angel Island. We talked about the spicy tamales, empanadas and stuffed mushrooms we had on board, and how we washed them down with white wine, Pacificos and bottled water. And I asked if there might be interest for something similar in their office.
4b. On the messages, I said, “Hi Mike, it’s Robert Graham at 415-652-0763. I’m calling to talk to you about sailing. September and October are the best months to sail in the Bay Area. I just took the W Hotel’s management out for a 3-hour catered sailing trip, and they’re still smiling. If you think people there might like to do a sailing event and you want to find out more, give me a call at 415-652-0763.”
5. A few days later, I emailed photos from recent sailing trips with a reminder that there is still time to book.
6. In two more days, I placed yet one more gentle reminder-of-a-call to go sailing.
The results were even better than I had hoped.
- I reached out to 25 buyers and decision makers.
- I had 12 conversations.
- I left 13 messages.
- 13 people said they would like to book a sailing event this year or next.
- 3 said they had just been talking about my sailing events in the last week.
- 1 said she had been meaning to call, as she had a success story to relate about a sales training I had done with her group.
- 1 said he had been meaning to call me about coaching one of his VPs for presentations, and we booked two sessions.
So far, nobody has booked an event, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I reconnected with every one of these people, found out about what is going on in their businesses and lives and reminded them that they should be organizing a sailing trip with me.
If you need to boost your sales (and who doesn’t?), create a campaign. Come up with a reason to call people. This works best with invitations to events (even if they can’t attend) and new offerings or products. Create a call list. Put your thoughts on paper. Then sit down and call everyone on that list.
You will be amazed at what happens.
Robert Graham
Robert Graham is the Principal of GrahamComm, LLC (www.grahamcomm.net), a consulting and training company that helps clients increase their sales and deliver outstanding presentations. He can be reached at 415-652-0763 or Robert@grahamcomm.net.
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