Standing Out From The Crowd

       Everyone has heard the old expression "If you do that, you'll stand out like a sore thumb!"

Your goal in sales is to be the sore thumb. Especially when you are leaving voice mail and e-mail messages for your customers or prospects.

Imagine a phone. Imagine a computer. Imagine them full of so many e-mail and voice-mail messages they could explode.

This is what your customer is living every day. In this age of technology and convenience listening to voice mail and scanning through e-mail is two degrees away from being tortured.

There are three kinds of people who leave messages. The first leaves long-winded stories of their entire lives and never gets to the point.

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     The second are extremely vague and they don't get to the point either.

The third are succinct, detailed and they make prospects curious.

End telephone tag forever by standing out. Leave a message that is either detailed with what you need or one that makes them curious: "Jill, I have a question only you can answer. I will be in the office until 10:15."

Don't tell people you are around all morning, don't just say "Jack, it's Jane, call me." If you do so you are entering the merry-go-round of telephone tag and it's a dizzy ride. It will also waste precious time and energy.

 With e-mail, the subject line is what's important. Your customers should be interested in opening it up.

Don't just send "Reply" back to a customer if it as an ongoing e-mail message. Write "Bob, I have an idea for you ..." or "Thank you and a suggestion ..."

Be creative and get to the point in the body of your e-mail.

Remember: Being a sore thumb is great -- having a sore thumb from dialing and typing is not.

Source: Kim Duke, The Sales Diva, provides sales training for small biz owners and entrepreneurs. Kim works with clients internationally. Click here to sign up for her free e-zine and receive her free report "The 5 Biggest Sales Mistakes Women Make."