Sales Success- You're Only A List Away!

When I was in sales management with Time-Life, wed assign calling lists to reps before every shift.

I want Canoga Park! one seller would shout.

Is there any Mar Vista left?

Just give me something that hasnt been called a million times, another would wisely request.

Lists were, and still are, a big deal.

And while, as a manager, Id downplay their influence on sales outcomes, because, after all, there is only so much Malibu to call, in my gut I knew, and still appreciate that a good list is a gold mine.

Lists are powerful for several reasons, apart from the potentially pre-qualified nature of the names youll find on them.

For one thing, they organize your work and address the show stopping and time wasting question: Who can I call next?

Though we want to come across to prospects as spontaneous and not robotic, still, having an assembly line of callable people right in front of us optimizes the clock, reducing downtime, while discouraging us from dwelling on the ones we failed to close.

Lists are also momentum builders. When youre hot you ARE hot, and having the next name to call enables you to carry that confidence you just earned over to the next contact.

Lists are also slump-busters. As Ive noted in my Nightingale-Conant audio series, The Law of Large Numbers, if you do enough of anything youll succeed.

Do still more and youll grow rich.

Outdo that, and youll become a legend.

Lists enable you to reach the greatest number of prospects in the least time, so theyre productivity tools, like no others.

But all lists arent equivalent, and well discuss the difference between smart ones and dumb ones in a subsequent article.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books and more than a thousand articles. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, (See: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=417455932#) he is quoted often in prominent publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week. President of Clientrelations.com and Customersatisfaction.com, his seminars and training programs are sponsored internationally and he is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40 universities. Dynamic and fun, Gary brings over two decades of management and consulting experience to the table, with the best academic credentials in the speaking and training industry. Holder of a Ph.D. from the Annenberg School For Communication at USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies and successful family owned and operated firms. More than a talking head, Gary is a top mind that you'll enjoy working with. He can be reached at gary@customersatisfaction.com.

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