Jan Visser over at SalesTeamTools has written the Jan Visser has written the first review of Inquisix: Do You Need Sales Leads Or Real Introductions To Your Ideal Prospects? I was a bit nervous about the review because we just started beta and we’re constantly updating the site. But as I hoped (and sort of expected, given Jan’s successful sales career), he immediately understood the value of the referrals and introductions Inquisix offers and how important it is that we protect the confidentiality of your contacts.

If you’re already an Inquisix member, please comment on his review.

If you’re not yet an Inquisix member, please read his review and then come join us!

Either way, if you have not already visited his site, you should.

Happy Selling!

Two recent postings by Jan Visser and Paul McCord got me thinking about how to best use customers to increase your business. As the chart from eMarketer below says, business decisions are heavily influenced by colleagues’ word-of-mouth. Naturally, sales people try to get referrals from their customers to gain new ones. After all, they’re the best referral you can get! But as Paul pointed out, having your customer say, “Give so-and-so at this company a call and use my name” is often not much more than a cold call. Paul and I agree that it’s much better if they contact so-and-so and make the introduction directly. But they often won’t.

Why is this? Why won’t customers give you referrals? Or as Paul prefers to ask, “Why won’t customers make introductions for you?” There are several reasons but the primary one is that customers don’t really know how. It’s not in their DNA to voluntarily call someone up and tell them about your solution. However, they will respond to a request for feedback on your solution.

The chart says that the top influence on buying decisions is from colleagues. However, the chart does not suggest if the buyer received a call or made the call. I will bet that it’s the buyer making the call to their buddy, “Hey, do you have any thoughts on this product?” or “I have this problem, do you have any idea on how to solve it?” Since Customers often give references instead of making referrals, why not use them that way? If customers are uncomfortable making referrals/introductions then don’t use them that way. Get your referrals somewhere else and let your customer give the reference.

Expect your customers to receive calls on your behalf but not make them on your behalf.

One of my favorite sites is SalesTeamTools because it’s one of the few sites I’ve found that is focused on productivity tools for salespeople. Hence their name! I have worked at small companies for years and while that means I don’t always get full support from corporate, it does mean that I can pick and choose the sales tools best suited for me.

Some of my favorite postings include:

Outlook plugins to improve your productivity

More Outlook plugins

20 Great Sales Resources

Must Have Tools

Finding email addresses

Sales Templates

Free way to track customers, prospects, competitor and yourself

Why LinkedIn won’t help you sell

Have you found any other top 10 links in SalesTeamToolsto share with us?