To help you improve the size and quality of your payroll service's e-mail marketing database, here are a few tips to consider:
Add a “Sign-Up For A FREE (Seminar, Newsletter, Whitepaper, etc.)” to your website’s home page.
Add a “share this e-mail” social media button to every e-mail campaign.
Add a low-risk offer coupon to an e-mail marketing/direct mail campaign website (where they need to provide an e-mail address to get the offer).
Ask your prospects and referral partners for their e-mail addresses (yes, it’s that easy).
Ask your LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook fans to subscribe.
Co-host a webinar with another business (where you can promote your contact information).
Contribute articles and newsletters to other sites (where you can promote your contact information).
Create a free resource center on your website (that requires an e-mail address to log in).
Create a special Facebook ad with a low-risk offer.
Develop niche newsletters (where you can promote your contact information).
Export your Outlook file of e-mail addresses.
Add local, regional and national editors to your e-mail marketing campaigns, i.e., newsletters (where they can share/promote your contact information).
Get more interviews (with anyone).
Offer a free gift to anyone who signs up for a seminar, whitepaper, newsletter, etc.
Host an online webinar (where you can promote your contact information).
Advertise an online contest for a free product/service (e-mail address is required to sign up).
Partner with another business (where you can promote your contact information to their database of customers/prospects).
Have people sign up for your newsletter at a trade show or event.
Post videos to your YouTube channel and tell people to sign-up for your newsletter service.
Take a picture of every business card and then upload it to your e-mail hosting service.
Use Google ad words to promote a product or service on your website (where they need to provide an e-mail address to get the offer).
Go onto a prospect’s website and copy someone’s e-mail address (do NOT use info@, sales@, service@, etc., into your e-mail marketing databases – see below).
A Word Of Caution.
e-Mail hosting services, i.e., Constant Contact, will cancel your account if you add too many “role” addresses to your NON-client database. Here is a sample role e-mail addresses begin with:
Donot@
Help@
Info@
Mail@
Manager@
Office@
President@
Sales@
Service@
Spam@
Support@
Webmaster@
Two Points:
Once you get someone’s e-mail address, you can maintain your one-on-one communication with them indefinitely.
Make it a priority to grow your e-mail marketing database.
About The Author:
Glenn Fallavollita is a nationally recognized keynote speaker providing money-making advice to help payroll service owners, sales pros, and marketing gurus build more profitable relationships with their database of prospects, referral partners, and clients.
If you are the sales leader for your payroll service, you need to track the status of every proposal on a daily/weekly basis. And if you are boohooing the idea of tracking your proposals in Excel, I challenge you to call me and tell me why!
Column Titles To Use:
Lead Type (i.e., self-generated lead, in-house lead, referral partner referral, or client referral).
Company Name
Contact Name/Title
Executive Follow-Up Call (this is a call made by the owner/sales leader thanking the prospect for the opportunity to earn their business).
Date Of Proposal
Sunset Date Of Proposal (if a lead hits this date, it automatically gets moved to the loss column).
Current Payroll Service
Discount Given
Product(s) Presented
High Probability Close
Low Probability Close
High Probability Win
Low Probability Win
High Probability Lost
Low Probability Lost
Other Items To Track:
Overall Proposal Close Rate
In-House Sales Lead Proposal Close Rate
Self-Generated Lead Proposal Close Rate
Referral Partner Lead Proposal Close Rate
Remember, you can't manage what you don't measure! Therefore, if you are not measuring the success of your sales team's proposal success rate, you are not managing them correctly.
About The Author:
Glenn Fallavollita is a nationally recognized keynote speaker providing money-making advice to help payroll service owners, sales pros, and marketing gurus build more profitable relationships with their database of prospects, referral partners, and clients.
After being hired for a new sales position, it becomes abundantly clear to many salespeople they made a huge mistake in taking the job. The good news is this: A salesperson can avoid this type of situation by asking some key questions during the job interview process.
20 Questions* To Ask During Your Next Sales Job Interview (In No Particular Order):
What makes your business unique in the marketplace?
Who are your toughest competitors?
Do you have a sales training manual and what type of formal sales and product training do you offer?
What are a prospect’s top three buying triggers when buying what you sell?
May I see your sales literature and client testimonials?
How are sales quotas assigned and how often do they change?
How often does a first-year salesperson hit their quota? What percentage of your salespeople are at or above their sales quota?
When are the best and worst selling months for what you sell?
Would you mind if I went on a few sales calls with you as well as with some of your salespeople?
What can you teach me?
How many salespeople have been hired, fired, or quit in the last twelve months?
Do you have a written sales and marketing strategy (if yes, ask if you can see it)? What's your annual marketing budget to support my sales efforts?
What type of lead-nurturing, social media, SEO, or drip marketing campaigns do you have in place to support my prospecting efforts?
How are sales leads generated?
How many sales leads came in the past four weeks?
How are sales leads distributed?
What has been your track record been in growing and/or promoting salespeople?
What is your sales team’s overall proposal close ratio?
I read your LinkedIn profile and it seems that you've been here for X years/months; why did you take the job as _________? Review/print their LinkedIn profile before you ask this question and tread lightly as some sales leaders will get defensive when you ask questions about their background.
How is your salesperson’s compensation plan structured? Do you pay a commission on new versus repeat sales/orders? How are my sales tracked?
*Some questions can be avoided by your preliminary research and/or industry nuances.
IMPORTANT: Before going into your next interview, type and print out your questions (which makes you look even more professional).
After you have completed the interview process with each company, I recommend finding a quiet place to reflect on the following questions:
Do I need this job more than this job needs me?
Can I get excited about selling this company’s product or service line?
What type of reviews can I find online about this company (are they positive)?
What type of turnover has this company had with its salespeople?
Is their comp plan comparable for the industry?
What type of FORMAL sales AND product training does this company offer?
What are the salespeople making for salary and commissions?
What type of lead nurturing drip campaigns does this company have in place?
How often does the sales comp plan change?
Who are their biggest competitors and are they hiring as well?
What are the salespeople saying about their company and sales leader?
What are their customers saying online about them?
About The Author:
Glenn Fallavollita is a nationally recognized keynote speaker providing money-making advice to help payroll service owners, sales pros, and marketing gurus build more profitable relationships with their database of prospects, referral partners, and clients.
