The Sales Call Introduction Consultative selling Sales call structure Introduce yourself Lowering resistance Explanation of products Asking questions Back at the office The second call Smoke objections Straightforward objections Second call objections The fastest way to increase sales! Participate in this award-winning, newspaper-specific ad sales course on-site or in a Webinar.  • Get past upfront stalls and objections without any pushing  • Make the account believe he really needs you  • Get better information from your prosepct  • Develop quick ad strategies that work the very first time  • Eliminate size, frequency, content, cost and most other objections before they ever arise  • Get dramatic responses for all kinds of advertisers  • Never have to push an advertiser to run again click here

Once you've done some prospecting and found businesses you think would be good to call on, you'll have to determine if you should just show up at their door or call on the telephone to make an appointment ahead of time.

The rule of thumb is that if the person you'll be calling on sits behind a desk in an office building, then make an appointment. If they are working in some sort of shop where customers are invited to just walk in unannounced, then you walk in unannounced as well.

This convention may seem strange to new advertising representatives. After all, you may think, wouldn't it be more polite and respectful to call for permission before stopping in? Maybe, but you're significantly lowering your odds of helping the advertiser if you call first.

The problem is, most prospects won't understand that you're sincerely interested in them and not just in their money, so they'll be reluctant to make an appointment with you. And over the phone, most businesses will have little trouble cutting you off before you get a chance to make your case.

In person, the dynamic is much different, mostly due to the fact that 70 percent of face-to-face interaction is nonverbal. So, even though it may go against your instincts, walk right into a prospect's place of business instead of calling ahead. The prospect understands this is the way it's done, too.

This is not to say that he'll be happy to see you. Nobody likes to be sold, and many in most places you walk into you'll be greeted with an objection.

Simply introduce yourself. Something like, "Hi, I'm Bob McInnis from the Community News. I just started in this territory so I thought I'd stop in and introduce myself." Make sure to keep it casual. The same rule that applies to public speaking applies here–the more formal and uncomfortable you act, the more uncomfortable the prospect will feel. If you tense up, you'll make your account tense up and he'll begin to resist talking to you.

You should then ask, "May I speak to the person who handles your advertising?" I can't stress enough how important it is to talk to the right person. You've got to get to the decision-maker, the one who is not only in charge of the advertising but the person who actually has the authority to make the purchase. I've wasted a lot of time dealing with someone who didn't make the decision, ultimately making a great presentation only for him to then go to the true decision-maker and simply say "This guy wants you to run in his paper, you interested?" Only deal with a non-decision-maker if that person agrees before you get too far into the sales process that he'll get you a meeting with the real decision-maker if he likes the proposal.

Next: Lowering resistance