Partners in Performance Blog

Email Persuasion Tip #3: Use a Recipe to Write a Clear Message

Recipe-for-EmailsWriting effective emails is like following a recipe when cooking. In my younger years I told my sister I wasn’t a very good cook. Her response? If you can read, you can cook. All you have to do is follow a recipe. I’ve learned over the years this is true.

Using a recipe is not only for cooking but also for sales communications…sales meetings, presentations, emails, voice messages. That’s why I love to use templates.

Here is the template for constructing persuasive emails. … Read More

Email Persuasion Tip #2: Create a Compelling Opening

5 Essential Email IngredientsThe #1 essential ingredient of writing effective emails is to create a magnetic subject line that compels your clients to promptly open your email.

The #2 key is crafting a compelling opening sentence. This is so important, yet many people start off on the wrong foot. They forget to put the reader’s needs first, what’s important to them, and what will make them hungry to find out what your email says.

Once opened, the goal is to pull your client … Read More

Your Email Is (NOT) Important to Us!

E-Mail AttachmentWhen an email starts with “Your email is important to us,” you can be sure it’s been generated by an automatic responder system. In other words, it hasn’t been written specifically to you by some attentive person who’s actually read your email. It’s a lie.

And yet how many of us write personal emails to clients and people we do business with – i.e. real people – and sound just as phony, just as impersonal? Worse, we write emails to clients that address our own needs and interests with little … Read More

Referral Tips: How to Ask a Client for a Great Lead

Generate-LeadsThis is the third post in a series on referral marketing. In our first post, 3 Reasons You’re Not Using Referral Marketing for New Leads, we explored how our mindset gets in our own way. We then focused on when to ask a client for a referral and the importance of specificity. In this post we’ll look at how to ask a client for a referral, so that it actually turns into a great sales lead.

Early in my career, I used to marvel at ‘Susie’ who was consistently the top … Read More

What the Ice Storm Taught Me about Sales Preparation

Preparing for Sales What do sales preparation and preparing for the next big winter storm have in common?

More than you might think, as I have learned!

If you live in Toronto and the surrounding areas, you experienced the wrath of the ice storm during the frigid Christmas holiday season. It was devastating and everyone had their stories.

We live in the country about one hour outside of Toronto and our power was out for 6 days and five nights. We had no … Read More

Sales Follow Up: The One Thing Most Sales People Can Do Better

“It’s all in the sales follow up.” This is the mantra I hear repeatedly from several clients I work with in the financial services industry. The sales person calls on financial advisors and brokers to provide advisory support and promote their financial products.

But without timely, value-added follow up, any opportunities that may have been uncovered in the sales meeting disappear into the ether. Without excellent follow up they don’t ‘land the plane’ and results aren’t achieved. Without doubt this applies to every B2B sales person in every industry.

What I find astonishing is how inconsistently this last critical step … Read More

Selling Cycle is NOT One, Two, Skip a Few

When I am driving to a destination, unless I am in site-seeing mode, I plan my route and look for the fastest way to get there. That’s true for many people. But when it comes to selling, it’s astonishing how this simple concept isn’t tackled with the same fervor and consistency.

A client recently told me that the sales cycle for their business is a “long process and it just takes time.” I hear this a lot. In fact, … Read More

Your Daily Sales Habit

Glass of water with ice, lemon and mint. Isolated on white backgWhat are your daily sales habits? How do you kick start each day to ensure you have a productive, results focused day? Do you get lost in your email? Do you grab a coffee and chit chat with friends?

Every morning I wake up and have a glass of water with a squeeze of lemon juice. It’s supposed to be good for the liver. What’s more important to me is that this … Read More