Jill Konrath

I owe it all to teenage angst. That's right. I wanted to be popular and have a boyfriend. But it wasn't my natural style to be a big flirt. I'd much rather have been immersed in a good book. Fortunately, I found my salvation in ...

Seventeen magazine. I read it religiously to find out how to get a guy to really like me. (Starting to see the sales connection? And guys -- pay attention here. You never learned this stuff.)

According to Seventeen, the key to dating success boiled down to a girl's ability to get the guy talking about himself. And that meant, she needed to ask good questions. 

I stood in awe, staring at the dinosaur tracks we'd walked an hour to see. These ancient remnants of 195 million years ago were smack dab in the middle of the path in wide open country in Southern Utah.

As I placed my hiking boot next to the footprint, I felt a deep sense of reverence that I was actually walking in the footsteps of giants.

Later, in reflection, I realized that my own sales success was a direct result of those who walked the path before me.

How do you get a prospect to budge off their status quo? After all, they're already doing something to address their needs. Maybe they're using a competitor or perhaps they using in-house resources.

To make that happen, here's a strategy I've often found helpful.

Sell Small to Get Big Contracts

Why in the world would you want to propose a small order or project when you could get a big one? In today's risk-averse business environment, getting a big budget item approved can take forever -- especially with all the buy-in that you have to get. In fact, it may take so much work that your prospect just says, "It's not worth the effort."

Don't let that happen to you! First of all, talk to your prospect about the reality of the situation. Find out if they anticipate problems. If so, suggest to them that you do something to get started.  

You've probably heard lots of people tell you that cold calling is dead, dead, dead. That's not true. Lots of people are still doing it -- but they're no longer dialing for dollars.

Here are 3 cold calling strategies savvy sellers use to get new opportunities:

Are you involved in a complex sale with multiple decision makers? If so, they probably don't make decisions too often with regards to what you sell. When you're dealing with today's crazy-busy prospects, the decision itself can be overwhelming.

If you're launching a new product or service shortly, it's highly likely your firm has invested a great deal of money and time to bring it to market.

Unfortunately, many companies don't ever realize their desired results. Why? Their product launch methodology is severely flawed.

Sales prospecting via email can be really tough. But honestly, some people create their own problems - as you'll soon see. 

Today's post comes from "Ken," one of my all-time favorite clients. Normal human beings (otherwise called prospects) would never put up with the sales behavior you'll see below. They'd delete Brian in a nanosecond. But Ken is curious as to how this seller will respond so he continues the e-dialogue.

As you read through the exchange below, keep track of the mistakes you find!