641 Words Of Tough Love For All
Payroll Salespeople To Read
(Print And Share With Your Sales Team And Sales Leader)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 641
• Read Time: 2.6 Minutes

Are you a payroll salesperson who wants to upgrade their sales results? How about a sales leader who wants to jump-start their sales team's sales? If you are, take a moment to read the list below (print and share with your sales team/sales leader).

1. Stop Your Whining: It’s time you stopped whining about your sales dilemma, as it will only prolong the issue.
2. Deliver Every Payroll Proposal In Person Or Via A Webinar: When giving a proposal for what you are selling, provide a prospect two to three options either in person or via a screen share program.
3. Don’t Give Up: ~50% of all salespeople stop calling a prospect for at least 9- to 12-months or altogether after their first unsuccessful attempt at moving the sales process forward. Remember, decision-makers change, and your competition is never perfect.
4. e-Mail More Than An Newsletter To Help Market Your Payroll Service Or HCM Biz: If you are only blasting a generic, one-size-fits-all e-newsletter to everyone in your e-mail database, you are committing e-mail marketing suicide. 
5. Give 100% Because 99% Or Less Won’t Cut It: If you are giving anything less than 100%, the sales profession (and your sales leader) will eat you up.
6. Go Old School: If you read something of interest in a magazine, scan it/take a picture of it and e-mail it to the people you have in your database.
7. Invest In Yourself Because No One Else Will: Since no one will care more about your sales success than you, I recommend that you take a few sales training classes and read as many books on the subject of sales and marketing as possible.
8. Keep Score Of Your Sales Results AND Sales Activities: Once you start keeping score, you will see what is/isn’t working.
9. Look At What Your Company’s #1 Salesperson Is Doing: If you want to become better at what you sell, blueprint what your company’s top salesperson (which is frequently the business owner) is doing, what they say, whom they say it to and how often they say it.
10. Make The Commitment To Increasing Your Sales: The first step to increasing your sales is the commitment to taking action.
11. Power Off Your Smartphone: You and I both know that your smartphone is a massive distraction to you.
12. Schedule Phone Blitz Sessions Each Week: Start scheduling time each week to have 90- to 120-minute phone blitz sessions.
13. Start Calling More People: One of the top ways to increase your sales is to make more phone calls to your database of contacts.
14. Stop Being A Mind Reader: You cannot look at a prospect’s name and say, “I’m not going to call this person as they’re probably not interested in buying what I am selling.”
15. Stop Playing The Sales Stalking Game: Most salespeople play the “let’s see who I can call” sales stalking game with little to no strategy on who to call. Avoid this type of following-up.
16. Work Continuously On Building Your Database: Your marketing database(s) represents 50% to 60% of your sales success; therefore, make it a priority to build and update your CRM databases.
17. Write Down Your Sales Goals: Doing better is the result of taking action on that decision.
18. Your Sales Pipeline Is YOUR Life: Starting today, you will fill your sales pipeline with more sales opportunities.

My Last Two Pieces Of Advice.

#1: Start Taking Action Today: If you want to win more sales, start improving your sales and marketing skills today, not tomorrow. Successful salespeople don’t wait until their selling season starts to take action.

#2: It’s Called “Selling” For A Reason: Unfortunately, many underperforming salespeople lie to their sales leader about the number of sales calls they had each week, how robust their sales pipeline activity is to even where they were on a particular day. Today is the day you will start taking ownership of your sales pipeline/results and your time management skills.

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.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

6 Tips To Better e-Mail Marketing Results
For Your Payroll Service Or HCM Biz
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 352
• Time To Read: 1.4 Minutes

e-Mail marketing is still a terrific way for your payroll service to build trust, credibility, and brand recognition in the marketplace; however, it needs to be done right. And based on my experience in sending 100+ million e-mail messages, here are a few pointers for you to consider:

1. Have a colleague do a 4-second test.
2. Proof your campaign 2X.
3. Avoid using “No-Reply” in the sender's e-mail address field.
4. Remove These e-Mail Addresses.
5. Clean your e-mail database.
6. Link your e-mail’s low-risk offer to a landing page.

1. Have A Colleague Do A 4-Second Test - Send a copy of your e-mail campaign to a colleague to see if they can quickly 1. Review your e-mail for clarity and brevity, and 2. Determine your low-risk offer.

2. Proof Your Campaign At Least 2X –Before you press the send button, print your campaign for proofing and then hand it to one or two other people for proofing. 

3. Avoid Using 'No-Reply' In The SENDER'S e-Mail Address – Avoid using the phrase "no reply," or a similar phrase, as your e-mail sender's name.

4. Remove These e-mail Addresses – Before you launch your next mass e-mail campaign, I recommend removing all generic, i.e., @aol.com, @hotmail.com, etc., and role, i.e., service@, info@, etc. e-mail addresses from your database. Why? They will be the ones who cause the most issues for you with services like Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, etc. After doing that, upload your database to a third-party verification service to tag the invalid/complainer e-mail address.

5. Clean Your e-Mail Database - After sending your e-mail campaign, remove all bounced e-mail addresses. With services like Constant Contact, they make it easy to do this. 

6. Link Your e-Mail’s Low-Risk Offer To A Landing Page – To help you provide a reader subscriber with more information, connect your offer to a landing page.

In today’s world of home office working, your target audience is spending more time than ever before in their inbox. And to help you maximize your e-mail marketing efforts, spend a few extra minutes making your e-mail campaigns a great brand experience.
 

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.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com, a division of Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

To hire Glenn for your next conference, visit DripMarketingSpeaker.com.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

6 Payroll Prospect PowerPoint Tips
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 217
• Time To Read: 53 Seconds

Are you looking to upgrade your sales and marketing process at your payroll service? If you are, I recommend developing a short PowerPoint presentation that walks a prospect through the following six sections:

1. What does the payroll platform look like?
2. Your conversion process: Steps, timetable, onboarding employees, what’s needed, and date of the first payroll run.
3. Employee Self Service: How an employee gets their pay stub, PTO days, personal background info, etc.
4. How does the direct deposit process work?
5. What your platform looks like when entering payroll information?
6. What does the PC, tablet, and mobile version look like to the payroll manager?

Other Tools To Consider Are:

• Website—Consider having the following pages:
  • Services provided
  • Refer-A-Friend
  • Refer-A-Business Client
  • How To Receive A Quote
  • Industry Solutions
  • Time And Attendance Solutions
  • Resources
  • State And Federal Resource
• Social media—Create a Facebook and LinkedIn page.
• Google My Business (GMB)— GMB is a free, dedicated business listing space on Google that can boost your local online presence.
• Phone Call Follow-Up – You need to assign someone the task of following up all sales leads, proposals, referrals from your clients and CPAs.

If you are looking to upgrade your sales and marketing efforts, the first step to success is to take action.

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.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

How To Create A Newsletter
For A Payroll Service or HCM Business
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 373
• Time To Read: 90-Seconds

It is relatively easy to create a newsletter that is filled with engaging content for your database of payroll prospects, CPAs, and payroll clients. To help you develop a newsletter that is actually read, I have listed several tips for you to consider.

#1: Segment Your Database – Your absolute first step is to segment your database of e-mail addresses into groups, i.e., prospects, referral partners, and clients. After that is done, you need to clean up each database to ensure delivery and AVOID your newsletters from being labeled as spam.

#2: Select An e-Mail Publishing Service – It is best to choose a platform that makes it easy to create and send your e-mail campaigns. Therefore, consider a service that offers an easy-to-use interface and makes the unsubscribe process simple for a reader. Additionally, you need to have a dashboard to review a campaign’s results, such as Constant Contact.

#3: Create A Newsletter Template – If you lack the design skills, hire someone who does e-mail design work for a living. Remember, you need to present a positive image in the marketplace.

#4: Define Your Marketing Content – Content is easy to create as the IRS, CDC, and your business partners publish loads of articles to use. To help you get results over the long run, focus on snippets of information to share with your target audience. Remember, if your newsletter is all about you/your payroll service, your open rates will suffer, or worse, opt-out from future campaigns.

#5: Determine Your Newsletter’s Frequency - Once your newsletter is done, you need to determine the frequency of it being sent. My recommendation is once a month, as you need to send more than a newsletter to help position your payroll or HCM business as a trusted resource. 

#6: Outline Future Content – The key to developing future content is to create a file of hot topics your target audience wants to read. This could be year-end information, new minimum wage increases, to time and attendance tips. And don’t be afraid to ask your team for articles of interest.

#7: Proof Every Campaign, Three Times – Before you press the send button, it is imperative to proof your campaign multiple times by multiple people. Check all links, phone numbers, addresses, and e-mail addresses.

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.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com, a division of Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

To hire Glenn for your next conference, visit DripMarketingSpeaker.com.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

How To Quickly Attract New Payroll Clients
(Print And Share With Your Sales Leaders)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 567
• Time To Read: 2.3 Minutes

Marketing your payroll service is a critical aspect to growing its sales; however, the key to your marketing success is this: Niche marketing. 

What Is Niche Marketing?

Niche marketing is all about focusing on a particular group(s), i.e., a marketing database that has a common element(s). 

Core Groups To Target:  

• Your Payroll Clients
• CPAs
• Chamber Members
• Benefit Brokers

Niche Markets To Consider (Sample List):

• Association Members
• Charter Schools
• Franchise Owners
• Government Entities
• Healthcare / Home Care
• Hospitality Industry
• Law Practices
• Long Term Care Facilities
• Manufacturing
• Medical Practices
• Not-for-Profits
• Pool Manufactures
• Retail Businesses
• Restaurants

The Benefit From Niche Marketing.

The real benefit of niche marketing is this: Focus. And if you ever managed a sales/marketing team, you and I both know it’s imperative to keep a person’s focus on a target market. Plus, when you are focused on a particular group, the following happens:

• Your marketing messages will be more in tune with the marketplace.
• Your sales team starts to use “buzz words” that resonate with a prospect.
• Your industry testimonials will carry more weight.
• Your salespeople have a defined target.

What Type Of Promotions Or Low-Risk Offers Can You Use?

Consider these ideas as you plan your promotion:

• Celebrate National Payroll Week.
• Bundled service/product promotion.
• Free trial period.
• Provide a gift card to a client who sends you a lead that results in a sale. Other ideas could be dinner on us, office lunch on us, to even cold hard cash.
• Sponsor a shred your office files day.
• Private label a bottle of hot / BBQ sauce. This is great to give (free) a local restaurant, CPA firm, or CPA/small business expo or event).
• Sponsor a CPA golf event.

Sample list of private label BBQ/hot sauce companies:

• www.hotsauce.com
• www.hotsaucedepot.com
• www.croixvalleyfoods.com

Crucial Step: Review Your Existing Marketing Material And Website. 

If you are targeting a niche market, I recommend reviewing/rewriting the following:

• Business Cards
• e-Mail Signature Line
• Sales Brochures
• Social Media Pages
• Testimonials
• Website

Clearly Articulate The Pain Points Your Payroll Service Solves AND Its Industry Expertise.

Your marketing message should tell a reader the problems your payroll service solves.  Here are some key talking points:

1. Increased level of accuracy (payroll reports and state/federal payroll withholdings).
2. Lower cost(s) as compared to your current service.
3. Better and more personalized customer service.
4. Recommended by CPAs.
5. Reduce the time spent managing and running payroll.
6. Upgraded technology, time clock options, and HR services.
7. Local business.

You Only Have .5- to 1.5 Seconds To Get Someone’s Attention.

Choose your headlines carefully as you will only have a reader’s attention for .5- to 1.5-seconds. With your niche marketing messages, remember to use industry jargon to help your message resonate with a reader. 

Avoid using platitudes like these:

We're more...

• ...accurate.
• ...affordable.
• ...convenient.
• ...better than or cheaper than your current payroll service.
• ...professional.
• ...reliable.

Add These Downloadable Resource Guides To Your Website/e-Mail Marketing Campaigns:

• Top 10 Payroll And Timekeeping Tips for Small Businesses
• How To Identify Payroll Fraud At Your Business
• 5 Steps To Help Switch To A New Payroll Service
• A Business Owners Guide To Time Clocks

Executive Summary: Prospects will switch to a new payroll service for the following reasons:

1. Cost
2. Poor Customer Service, Accuracy, Or Performance With Someone's Existing Service
3. Better Functionality, Upgraded Technology, And Ease-Of-Use
4. Trusted Advisor/Internal Decision Maker Recommended A New Service
5. Business Is Being Taken For Granted By Their Current Service

Now that you know the top reasons why someone would want to switch to a new payroll service, you can use this information in your next marketing campaign.

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.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

16 Things Winning Payroll
Salespeople Do Every Morning
(Print And Share With Your Sales Team)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 609
• Time To Read: 2.4 Minutes @ 250 Word Per Minute

To help your sales staff regain its focus, you will find a number of things winning payroll salespeople do every morning below.

16 Things Winning Payroll Salespeople Do Each Morning. 

1. They Get To Work Early: Successful salespeople arrive early to the office to avoid the typical interruptions from their co-workers.

2. They Schedule Time To Make Calls: Successful salespeople look at their calendar and block out times to make their "oh, by the way," follow-up calls/cold-calls/warm-calls to their database of clients, past clients, hot/warm prospects, and referral partners.

3. They Update Their Daily To-Do List: Successful salespeople look at yesterday’s to-do list and make adjustments and new entries. Two suggestions:

• Use an iPad or an erasable pen as they are great for making changes to written to-do lists and weekly planners.
• Buy Day-Timer's weekly planner to manage your calendar and to-do list.

4. They Read Their Sales/Personal Goals: Successful salespeople read their sales goals and personal goals to help internalize their success.

5. They Spend One-Hour Reading A Book: Successful salespeople get up early and crack open a book to read. I highly recommend reading SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham; you can buy this fabulous sales book for as little as $6.00 on Amazon. 

6. They Post Educational Content To Their LinkedIn Account: Successful salespeople go to their LinkedIn account and post articles of interest to their account.

7. They Give A List Of Problems To Their Sales Manager: Successful salespeople know how to use their sales leaders to handle internal problems.

8. They Say "No" To Non-Revenue Producing Projects: Successful salespeople know they sometimes need to say "thank you, but no thank you" to internal projects that won't generate sales revenue.

9. They Schedule Their Sales Manager's Time On Joint Sales Calls: Successful salespeople know that sometimes a sales manager's presence will help them close an account by taking the team approach to selling.

10. They Organize Their Desk: Successful salespeople know that mornings are a great time to organize their desks to help keep their minds clear of clutter.

11. They Say "Good Morning" To Co-workers: Successful salespeople know they need the help of their co-workers to be successful.

12. They Look For High Priority Items In Their Inbox: Successful salespeople scan their inbox for e-mails from clients, referral partners, networking groups, and prospects for high-value sales opportunities. 

13. They Keep Their e-Mails Brief: Successful salespeople don't waste time typing lengthy e-mails.  When they do send an e-mail, they write one or two sentences to open the e-mail, use a bulleted list of key information, and then close their e-mail with one or two sentences.

14. They Focus On Their Proposal Pipeline: Successful salespeople know their #1 priority is to "sell."  That said, they look at their proposal pipeline report to see what needs to be done with each open proposal. They also know the importance of building their sales pipeline with hot prospects and referral partners.

15.  They Review And Rewrite Yesterday's Notes: Successful salespeople know that one of the best ways to remember what happened during yesterday's meetings and calls is to rewrite their notes from the previous day.

16. They Keep Building A Sales Pipeline: Successful salespeople know the size and quality of their sales pipeline is their life; therefore, they keep calling and scheduling appointments with high-value prospects and referral partners. 

P.S. #1: The key to managing your day is to take action.
P.S. #2:  Reread bullet #14, as a proposal tracking report will be a massive benefit to you.

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.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

To hire Glenn for your next conference, visit DripMarketingSpeaker.com.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

6 Tips For Hiring A Sales Hunter
For Your Payroll/HCM Biz
By Glenn Fallavollita, President - Drip Marketing, Inc. & SellMorePayroll.com

• Word Count: 493
• Time To Read: 2 Minutes

My research has shown 50% to 60% of all newly hired payroll salespeople (at a small independent’s payroll service) will quit or be discharged in their first 9- to 12-months of employment. Nationally, salespeople turnover is 27% each year, according to Harvard Business Review. 

Since the process of recruiting and training a new salesperson is a significant expense, you will want to be sure that you hire a sales hunter. That said, here are six tips to consider reading: 

6 Tips To Help Hire A Sales Hunter.

Tip #1: Be Specific – The first step is to define the role and requirements in a job posting; therefore, take a moment to reflect on your company’s needs before you begin your search. Don't forget to work on a sales comp plan that rewards the right performance.

Tip #2: Manage The Interview – Interview preparation allows you to be ready to ask revealing questions. I recommend using a candidate’s resume to build open-ended questions you can use during the interview.

Tip #3: Have The Salesperson Give You A Presentation On What They Are Currently Selling – Step outside of the typical interview questions, such as what are your strengths and weaknesses, and instead conduct a pragmatic interview by asking them to give you a presentation on their current/last employer’s product line. Please pay particular attention to the candidate’s sales pitch and their ability to answer your questions and concerns about the product.

Tip #4: Play Your Hand Close – A common mistake made by some less experienced interviewers is they reveal what they want from an employee at the beginning of an interview. A clever candidate will use this to his/her advantage and respond with what you want to hear. Maintain the power dynamic by asking instead of telling.

Tip #5: Perform A Candidate Assessment – Throughout the entire interview process, you will want to assess the candidate through a specific lens. Decide what components make up the ideal salesperson and determine if this candidate matches those criteria. If they do not seem like a good fit now, they probably will not be a good fit down the road.  

Tip #6: Do Your Research – It is not uncommon for salespeople to exaggerate their accomplishments during the interview. While flat-out lying is entirely unacceptable, exaggerating achievements can be problematic. So, it is in your best interest to jot down their claims and check their accuracy during your reference checks.

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.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

To hire Glenn for your next conference, visit DripMarketingSpeaker.com.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

7 Reasons Why Your e-Mail Campaigns
Aren’t Generating Any Sales Leads Or Referrals
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 598
• Time To Read: 2.4 Minutes

After sending 113+ million e-mail campaigns on behalf of our clients, I have listed the top e-mail marketing mistakes I see most payroll services make. They are:

Reason #1: No Follow-Up Call Was Ever Made – The #1 reason why an e-mail marketing campaign(s) fails is the lack of a follow-up call. My suggestion:

• After sending an e-mail marketing campaign, i.e., press release, intro letter, etc., create a list of e-mail addresses/contacts who opened or clicked on a link.
• Provide your sales team with a script to use during their phone blitz session.

Reason #2: Poor Messaging And Subject Lines – Another top reason why your e-mail marketing results are lackluster is this: Poor messaging and copy. And yes, your subject line falls in this category as well. My suggestions:

• Create an engaging subject line.
• Send an educational message (versus selling something).
• Use your company’s name in the “from” e-mail address field.
• Use headlines and sub-headlines when writing copy.
• Add a high visibility low-risk offer or call-to-action.

Reason #3: Sending Too Many Or Too Few e-Mails – Have you ever received an e-mail from someone and then received 3 to 4 e-mails in the first 72 hours? If you have, you know it does more harm than good. My suggestions:

• Keep your cadence of e-mails from one per week or every other week.
• You can send more e-mails to your database of active clients versus a purchased list of e-mail addresses.

Reason #4: Not Segmenting Your Databases By Target Audience - Many e-mail marketing campaigns fail because the information that is e-mail is nothing more than a generic newsletter blast. My suggestions:

• Segment your e-mail list by clients, prospects, chamber members, past clients, referral partners, etc. Once done, develop a series of e-mail marketing campaigns for each database on file.
• Personalize your e-mail campaigns using someone’s first name, last name, and company name.

Reason #5: Not Using A Low-Risk Offer – By not having a highly visible low-risk offer or call-to-action, you are missing out on some potential sales leads and referrals. My suggestions:

• During the design stage, write five low-risk offers to use (keeping it relevant to your target audience). This could be an exclusive trial offer, whitepaper download, special purchase price, etc.
• Add a coupon or headline offer within the body of a campaign.

Reason #6: Not Having An e-Mail Strategy - One of the top reasons your e-mail marketing efforts fail is this: Not having an e-mail marketing strategy. My suggestions:

• Plan a campaign’s message/low-risk offer based on its target audience.
• Test different subject lines, copy, low-risk offers, send times, databases, etc.
• The time of the day and the day of the week will significantly impact a campaign’s “open and click-through rate.”

Reason #7: Not Constantly Building A Database Of Prospect e-Mail Addresses – If you are not continually building your database of e-mail addresses, your “prospect” open rates will flatline over time. My suggestions:

• Make it a priority to build your e-mail database of clients, prospects, referral partners, past clients, dealers, etc.
• If you have a sales team, make sure each salesperson is expanding their database of prospects, referral partners, chamber members, etc., every week (sales leaders need to measure this number). And not with @aol.com, @yahoo.com, info@, etc., e-mail addresses. 

Executive Summary: The days of blasting a generic, one-size-fits-all newsletter to everyone in your e-mail database and expecting a sales lead or a referral are over. Be smart and create a plan of action AND a sales follow-up plan. Once you do this, you will see a dramatic improvement in your sales results. 

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.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

10 Tips To Improve Your Payroll Service's e-Mail Open Rates
(Print And Share At Your Next Sales Meeting)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President - Drip Marketing, Inc. & SellMorePayroll.com

• Word count: 323
• Time to read: 90 Seconds

If you want more people to read your next e-mail campaign, here are a few tips to consider.

#1: Avoid Writing Content That Is Too Self-Serving – Keep your e-mail campaign’s content relevant to the database it’s being sent to.  

#2: Avoid Writing A Wall Of Text – Don’t fall victim to writing a wall of text to get a campaign done. My suggestions are:

• Use headlines, sub-headlines, and bullet points.
• Keep your paragraphs to three to four sentences.
• Keep a sentence word count to less than 15 to 17 words.
• Keep your overall message count to 350 words.
• Only use two to three types of fonts.

#3: Segment Your e-Mail Marketing Lists – Create databases of clients, past clients, prospects, CPAs, etc.

#4: Keep Your e-Mail List Updated - You need to continuously build and update your database of clients, prospects, and referral partners; don't forget to delete the e-mail addresses that bounce. 

#5: Know What Affects Your Open Rates - 80% of an e-mail's open rate is based on: Your subject line, the from field, and the day/time a campaign is sent.

#6: Use Your Payroll Service's Name In The "From" Field - On mass e-mail marketing campaigns, use your biz name in the from field. 

#7: The Size Of Your e-Mail Database – Most salespeople need to have at least 1,000 to 2,500 e-mail addresses on file.

#8: Pick Up The Phone - After sending an important e-mail campaign to a database, i.e., webinar invite, call the people who opened it. 

#9: Proofread Your e-Mail Campaigns – Before sending your next e-mail marketing campaign, print your final copy and give it to two other people to proof.

#10: Consider Hiring A Professional Copywriter – Just because you have Word installed on your computer or a graphic design program, it doesn’t make you a good copywriter/designer. Do your payroll service a favor and hire someone who does e-mail marketing and/or copywriting for a living.

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.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

14 Tips Survival Tips
For A Payroll Service Salesperson
(Print And Share At Your Next Sales Meeting)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President - Drip Marketing, Inc. & SellMorePayroll.com

• Word count: 633
• Time to read: 2.5 minutes

Being a payroll service salesperson isn’t easy. In fact, 50% to 66% of all newly hired salespeople quit or get fired in their first nine months of employment!

What Does It Take To Survive As A Payroll Salesperson?

1. Be An Advocate For Your Payroll Prospects: More often than not, I have seen salespeople who put their customers'/prospects' needs first absolutely crush it. Relationship-minded salespeople understand and relate to their clients and focus on adding value to the relationship.
2. Become A Great Storyteller: Winning payroll salespeople tell great stories…stories of how their product or service helped other businesses solve a problem and questions on the things that are important to a prospect.
3. Deliver Every Proposal In-Person/Zoom: When giving a proposal for what you are selling, provide a prospect with a minimum of two options, either in person or via a screen share program. You significantly reduce your odds of closing a proposal if you e-mail it to a prospect and wait for their response.  
4. Don’t Be Pushy: Focus on getting to know a prospect’s business and not on being their buddy.   Although a proactive follow-up process is good, and it shows you have an interest in earning their business, don’t make your approach too aggressive as it will do more harm than good. 
5. Get To The Office Early: One of the best tips that I would give any salesperson is this: Arrive early to work as it will allow you to get to know your managers on a more personal level. More importantly, you can get more “dials” before our co-workers get to the office. 
6. Keep Score Of Your Sales Results And Sales Activities: The reality is that you need to track what you are doing on a day-to-day basis. This should include the number of calls you made to your database of prospects, proposals you have sent and closed each week, your proposal close rate, the number of NEW appointments you had each week, etc. And once you start keeping score, you will see what is and isn’t working.
7. Know What You Are Selling: If you know the business problems your product or service solves, you can have an immediate impact on a business. This is something decision-makers love to hear from a salesperson.
8. Plant A Seed Of Doubt: When talking with a prospect who believes they are happy using a competing product or service, ask a few questions that might create doubt in their mind.
9. Make More Prospecting Phone Calls: Spend 4 to 10 hours a week making calls to follow up with your database of prospects, referral partners, prospects that have a proposal, etc.   
10. Watch What Your Top Selling Salesperson Is Doing: I recommend shadowing your top-selling salespeople so you can see firsthand what they are saying and doing. 
11. Become A Trusted Resource For Your Prospects/Referral Partners: People love doing business with people they like and trust. Use an educational approach to selling.
12. Start Asking Better Business Questions: Sales is more about listening than talking. To become a better listener, focus on asking questions. Also, it would help if you took lots of notes as it projects a positive image. When you chat with a friend, waiter, or waitress, practice asking them questions.
13. Your Sales Pipeline Is Your Life: In sales, it is all about what you sold today. After a sale, do your happy dance and get a few high-fives; then go back to building your sales pipeline. Use an Excel sheet to keep track of your proposals by month. 
14. Put Away Your Personal Phone: One of the best things you can do is this: Put your phone away when making your follow-up calls. You and I both know it’s a huge distraction if you don't! 

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.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.