How The Coronavirus Just Changed
Your Sales And Marketing Strategy
(By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com)

• Word Count: 118
• Time To Read: .5 Minutes (@ 250 Per Minute)

The coronavirus has triggered an avalanche of actions. From the stock market decline to people buying toilet paper in bulk. Here's another issue: Face-to-face sales calls and networking meetings are going to be a thing of the past for the next 14 - 30 days (now read what's listed below).

6 Tips To Implement And Do NOW: 

If you want to keep your salespeople busy over the next 14- to 30-days, here is what I suggest.

1. Survey (via phone) your local market to uncover the businesses that are using a payroll service.
2. Conduct a series of webinars (every week) to keep your brand in front of your prospects and referral partners (click here to request a list of nine (9) webinar titles).
3. Get your salespeople on the phone following up with their database of prospects and the proposals they have in play.
4. Send out an e-mail invitation to attend your webinar series (with a phone blitz follow-up campaign to maximize attendance).
5. Roll-out a COVID-19 Business Relief Package (offer new clients discounted payroll processing for the next 90 days). After this campaign has been sent, follow-up with a phone call.
6. Send the abovementioned campaign to your database of referral partners so they can offer it to their business clients. After this campaign has been sent, follow-up with a phone call.

If you are looking to keep your pipeline full, you need to take action today for what's coming over the next few weeks.

P.S. If you need to secure an e-mail marketing database of local prospects (with job titles, phone #'s, etc.), call SellMorePayroll.com today.

6-Steps To Help You Close
More Payroll Proposals
(PRINT AND USE AT YOUR NEXT SALES MEETING)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc

• Word Count: 389
• Time To Read: 1.6 Minutes @ 250 Words Per Minute

Most payroll salespeople stop following-up on a proposal after one or two attempts at moving the sales process forward. Therefore, if you are a sales leader for your payroll service, it would be in your best interest to train your sales team on the value of following-up, especially when you consider the staggering statistics below.

How Many Contacts Does It Take To Close A Sale?

• 2% are made on the 1st contact.
• 3% are made on the 2nd contact.
• 5% are made on the 3rd contact.
• 10% are made on the 4th contact.
• 80% are made on the 5th to 12th contact.

Try This 6-Step Proposal Closing Process:

If you are in sales (or a sales leader), you might find the 6-step process I have outlined below of value:

1. After a salesperson has created a proposal, it is sent to a second person for final proofing.
2. The proposal is then logged into a tracking report (created in Excel for each salesperson).
3. After a proposal is sent to a prospect, a copy is sent to the sales leader for an executive follow-up call. This call has two objectives. First, it is to thank the person for the opportunity to earn their business. Second, it is to do a trial close, i.e., “When did you want to run your first payroll with us?”
4. Set up a sequence of phone calls (or meeting) to follow up on a proposal, AKA, proposal review call/meeting.
5. Develop an educational e-mail follow-up campaign/s (see sample below).
6. Send a handwritten "thank you for your time" greeting card via the USPS.

Click here for a sample "Thank You" greeting card via Amazon.com.

Send This e-Mail Within 24-Hours Of Delivering A Proposal.

Dear (first name),

Thank you for the opportunity to earn your business this week.  By the way, I have attached a few items you might want to read:

• An article/whitepaper on X, Y, and Z.
• Some recent client testimonials about our X, Y, and Z.

Again, thank you for giving us the opportunity to earn your business!

Warmest Regards,

(Your name, title, etc.)

Executive Summary: During your next one-on-one meeting with your salespeople, ask each person to give you their proposal pipeline report. Now, ask each salesperson these two questions:

1. “When will this company make a buying decision?”
2. “What is your follow-up plan for every proposal that hasn’t been closed?”

After listening to their answers, this e-mail will make complete sense to you.

What To Do When A Prospect Ghosts You
(Print And Share With Your Sales Team)

• Word Count: 359
• Time To Read: 1.4 Minutes @ 250 Words Per Minute

Although you might have had a great meeting with a new HCM/payroll prospect (and sent a proposal); however, after a few days of calling and leaving a few voicemail messages, you get ghosted. First, don’t take it personally. Second, people are on their schedule when buying what you sell, not yours.

If a payroll/HCM prospect doesn’t return your calls or respond to your e-mails after receiving a proposal, it won’t hurt to send them a “What Should I Do” e-mail (see below):

Sample e-Mail To Resurrect A Payroll/HCM Prospect Who Ghosted You.

Subject line: (prospect first name), Can You Help Me?

Dear (prospect’s first name):

Since I haven't heard back from you after sending you a proposal, would you mind giving me some direction on the best way to professionally follow-up with you? To make it easy, just hit the reply key and then type the corresponding number from the list below:

1. We decided to go with another company.
2. We are still interested but haven't had the time to get back to you yet.
3. We are putting the project on hold for the next few months; follow up with me in 60 to 75 days.
4. I have fallen, and I can’t get up. Call 9-1-1 for me.

With all kidding aside, I understand that you are super busy, and the last thing I want to do is not be professional with my follow-up. That said, I would appreciate it if you will take a moment to let me know what you are thinking.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Warmest Regards,

(Your name, title, etc.)

It Is Time To Move On?

If the prospect still ghosts you after sending the above-mentioned e-mail, then it’s time to move on. Although some consider ghosting unprofessional, here’s the truth: They are not interested in buying what you are selling and just don’t want to tell you “no.” Remember, this is their issue, not yours.

The Best Thing To Offset “Ghosting” Are These Two Things…

1. Have a massive pipeline of sales opportunities.
2. Have a drip marketing system to stay in contact with EVERYONE in your database, including the ones who have ghosted you.