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This is a Sales Call: How to Begin Prospecting Calls with Integrity
"Hello. I'm looking for Sharon Morgen?" This call really happened. Years ago I lost a large piece of business because I advocated telling prospects, "This is a sales call." For some reason, the Sales Director was appalled that I would announce it was a sales call. Who would prospects think they were speaking with? Their wife? Their mother? A relative? A friend? I'm a stranger, obviously. And why would I be calling them? Would I be from their child's school, announcing a problem? Or from the neighborhood, with a report of a house on fire? How about a person from the cleaner's, telling them I'd lost their new suit? What is wrong with telling prospects that you are placing a sales call? They'll guess it anyway when they don't recognize your voice. It will also be obvious because your opening remarks will probably sound uncomfortable - like a stranger placing a call to another stranger. But it doesn't have to be that way. NO NAME, NO TIME Let's start with the name game. Dale Carnegie used to recommend that sales people repeat the prospect's name because he thought people loved hearing their own name spoken. Whether that was because the phone systems in 1937 weren't that great, or because that was a commonly accepted belief, it's no longer the case. When we really know someone, we rarely use their name. Intimacy means never have to say someone's name there's just this eye contact people have, or a special way of saying 'Hi. It's ME." Of course you use people's names I'm being slightly facetious here but not repeatedly during the same conversation, and not often, when you know someone well. When you over-use a prospect's name, it becomes a ploy to manipulate them into liking you so you can fantasize that you are their friend, and convince this person that you want or have A RELATIONSHIP. But it's not true. Hearing their name spoken repeatedly by a stranger makes prospects feel even more detached. And what about the assumption that they're sitting there, waiting for this call, with nothing else to do but take the call even if it's a bank they do business with, or a charity they donate to? What is it about a sales call that makes it about the sales person anyway? What makes it about the product? Why is it even about a sale? Why not make a sales call even a prospecting call an aspect of your brand? A way of showing your prospects that you are supporting them and your product, through a collaboration (rather than a sale)? FEAR OF COLD CALLS Let me back track for a moment. I've trained many thousands of sales people; I can name on one hand the number of people who have eagerly sought out cold calling (and I'm one of them. I LOVE it what fun! What a neat way to get to know people!). Why? Because sellers don't want to impose themselves on strangers. Because you believe the prospects don't have the time or care. Because you get rejected. Because your ego says prospects should call you. But none of that has to be true. Let's look at the pieces, and then proceed to understand how they can each be mitigated with Buying Facilitation. Imposing on strangers When you make a call to a stranger (either prospects, or clients who have been handed over to you from a previous sales person) they don't know who you are, naturally, and you have no rapport with them. By definition you are imposing. Additionally, you are placing a call to get something for yourself and actually attempting to take something from them. Whether it's to 'make them' listen to you, or buy something from you, or do something for you. It's not like you are calling to give them a million bucks: you want them to do something, like listen to you, or buy from you, or make a change for you in some way. So you want something from this person. But this person is a stranger. Why should this person give you anything, unless they are already predisposed to want what you have anyway? Remember that before someone does anything (different or otherwise) they must make a decision to do it. And all decisions are based on specific, unique, criteria not information. So all the information in the world that you might have to share is immaterial if the person doesn't know how to decide what to do with it. Time Your prospect is obviously not sitting next to the phone waiting for a call from you. S/he is doing something. Whatever it is, s/he's doing something. In order to earn the right to use some of this person's time, you've got to ask for it and announce why you should be using their time. Asking if it's a good time to speak (not the same as saying 'Do you have a few moments?' the implication here is, 'do you have a few moments FOR ME.') will help here. Rejection Why do you get rejected? Because you are trying to get something from this person that YOU want to get. And they say no. What does 'no' do? It causes a Stop Action. There is no possibility of forward movement when 'no' is uttered; the person who is the naysayer holds the power in any relationship. As long as you continue to attempt to get your needs met from a cold call, attempt to get someone to listen to what you wish to say, try to get someone to buy something even an idea you will continue to get rejected by all of those people who don't consciously recognize a need for what you are pushing. When you get lucky and receive a positive response, it will be from those who already have determined a need and you then become a commodity. You better have a 'good price' for those people who will accept your call, because they won't know how else to choose you once you join the ranks of similar suppliers. USE BUYING FACILITATION TO SUPPORT MUTUAL AGREEMENT Using Buying Facilitation as the basis for the call won't be to take anything, sell anything, push anything, or even find out anything. Your job is to: 1. support the other person in recognizing if anything is missing in the category your product can support, and if so, how to start the process of designing a solution that will fix their problem (yes, even on a cold call, you can help the prospect begin the process of a complex sale); 2. help them discover their criteria for considering whether it's time to fill in a gap by doing something they haven't done before now. It's not about you, not about your product, and not about what you are offering. Until or unless a buyer recognizes that what they're doing isn't working, and until they are ready to do something different to fix/change the status quo, nothing you say will be heard. Remember: people do not make decisions based on information. Using Buying Facilitation, your job is to help people make the necessary decisions that will support the change they'd need to go through to do something different from what they're already doing. Use your cold call to help people decide. And start the call by getting into rapport and inviting people into a collaboration with you: Caller: "Hello. My name is Sharon Drew Morgen. This is a sales call, and I'm selling sales training. Is this a good time to speak?" By using this opening, you are telling people who you are and why you are calling, telling people you are respectful of their time, letting them know you are an honest person, saying exactly what you are calling for, and not mangling their name (somehow the name you have in front of you is either never the right person or never the right name). And, just something I have found to be true: unless you are calling from a company with a recognized brand name, saying the name of your company is unnecessary they won't recognize it or remember it. If the person says it's not a good time, ask if there is a better time to call back. Don't try to throw a quick pitch in just ask if there is a better time. If the person says they have a few minutes, say: "I appreciate the time. And if the call goes on longer than you have time to complete, we can end whenever it's good for you and pick it up at another time." In this way, you are giving the person permission to have control over the call. After all, they're in control anyway. By using this opening - actually, it's the first step in the Buying Facilitation Method® - you will have already dealt with the time and imposition issues, and the rejection won't be about you. And remember: make your call about helping them make discoveries and decisions. Don't use your time to push anything. Otherwise, you are wasting a great opportunity to find a new client and introduce your brand of integrity. Sharon Drew Morgen is the author of New York Times bestseller Selling with Integrity. She is the visionary and thought leader behind a wholly original sales model based on the systems of how people change and decide. She has taught this system to 13,000 people in the fields of sales, customer service, negotiating, coaching, and change management. Sharon Drew is a keynote speaker and decision strategist, helping companies change their internal practices to embrace collaborative decision making, ethics, values, and integrity. She can be reached at 512-457-0246 and http://www.sharondrewmorgen.com and http://www.newsalesparadigm.com
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Careers and Employment Sales Call Success - Turbo Charge Your Sales Calls Do you want to be a sales champion? There are a few small secrets that will help you achieve these goals. Get Instant Rapport On Sales Cold Calls Immediately establish rapport on cold-calls by matching your prospect's voice qualities - tone, pace, and emotion. Matching the emotion, or mood, of your prospect is key. If you begin your call sounding excited when she is not, you will be immediately branded as a salesperson, and the prospect's guard will be way up. 7 Ways to Jump Start Your Cold Calls Cold calling has to be one of the most feared aspects of every sales person's and business owner's day. With some important key tips, you can make cold calling painless and enjoyable and as easy as calling a friend. Choosing a Phone Dialer that Works If you own or operate an outbound call center, you've probably heard quite a bit about various phone dialer systems. In fact, it's likely you are using one of the many systems currently on the market. While your current phone dialer may be adequate for your business needs today, you'll probably grow out of it shortly. Even if you are not anticipating high levels of growth in the near future, just staying competitive in the call center business means having the latest technology. Phone Tips To Get Things Done: Professional Phone Skills It happens all the time, you hear someone over the telephone and you make a generalization about the person you are speaking with. It may not be fair and it is akin to judging a book by its cover, but it's true nevertheless. How To Know Youre On A Winner The catchword today for business is flexibility. This is a Sales Call: How to Begin Prospecting Calls with Integrity "Hello. I'm looking for Sharon Morgen?" "Sharon DREW Morgen." "What? Sharon Morgen?" "No. Sharon DREW" "Um. Hello. Are you Mrs. Drew?" "Ms. Morgen. That's me. Is this a sales call?" "Um. Hello. No. I'm with XYZ bank and I'm giving you a service call." "Regarding what? I don't do business with you. And you are not supposed to be making a telemarketing call on me. So what type of service are you offering for free?" "Well, it's not for free. But we thought you'd like to know about our new banking services." "Ah. So it IS a sales call." "We're not allowed to say that." Proven Two Minutes Magic Exercise to Conquer the Fear of Phone I got a confession to make! The little communication device used to scare me to death! What Level Of Telephone Sales And Customer Service Do You Provide? Using the telephone as an effective sales and customer service tool begins before you ever pick up the receiver to answer the telephone or make an appointment or sales call. When you reach for a ringing telephone, you need to put a smile on our faces and then greet people with the same enthusiasm you'd show them in-person. People can hear a smile, can't they? You also need to have music in your voices and an attitude that conveys to a caller that he or she is your top priority. The impression you create on the telephone can help you stand out from other organization If you don't stand out, you lose your competitive edge. Stop Selling and Make More Sales A few months ago I spent time training some telephone sales agents who were new to selling. They'd mainly been involved with handling incoming calls but now their company needed them to do some out bound sales calls. I spent two days running a sales workshop for them and another three days coaching them on the job. How To Be A Cold Calling Superstar! Our emotions and feelings are changing all of the time based on our interpretation of events. Does this mean that even a sales superstar feels bad if they lose a big deal? Of course they do. They wouldn't be human if they did not. It's natural for your feelings to fluctuate as you go about your business. The Cold Calling Conspiracy A consipiracy exists in the world of selling. A cold calling conspiracy. Closing That Big Sale With Conference Calling So you are in business. Whether it is micro, small, medium, or enterprise; you know the one key element you need to succeed in your business sales. 3 Simple Rules For Your Next Sales Call The other day I received a call from a telemarketer selling a website "starter kit" for small businesses. If you are reading this right now, then you undoubtedly know that I have a website. Normally, I would quickly get the telemarketer off the line so I could get back to showing people how to make more money. But this call got my attention because I thought that this might be a potential service that I could recommend to my clients. So I decided to listen to this sales pitch to evaluate the offering and the approach that the telemarketer used. Telemarketing Tips for Direct Sales Success Unfortunately, the DNC legislation has many small businesses that use telemarketers a bit concerned about their choice of direct sales tactic. However, there are still many ways to have your message get into the right people's hands without annoying them. And the fact of the matter is, telemarketing, as a direct sales tactic, works. Here are some tips and ideas to get your sales flowing and customers thrilled that you called them: Conference Calling Evolved Originally the conference call was limited to businesses paying exorbitant fees to the telcos. For business, it still made sense economically because the costs were less than the travel costs involved in bringing the people together. Additionally, significant time savings are involved, both in terms of travel time and in being able to communicate fairly rapidly to an extended group. How To Get Your Phone Call Returned When selling your product face to face with a customer, they have no choice but to hear you out completely. Ask yourself this question, If they were listening to you describe your product on their personal voice mail, would they hear you out, or would they delete you? No More Cold-Calling? Well, Almost... We do not advocate cold calling in High Probability Selling. However, cold calling is necessary at times. Overcoming Objections Over the Telephone In sales, one of the things you will be doing a lot of, is making phone calls. You can't escape it. It just comes with the territory. Control Your Sales Calls From The Start Sales calls that you control are what all salespeople want. I am a big believer that questioning is the most important skill for sales professionals. In order to stay in control of your sales calls, whether by phone or in person, you need to be the one asking questions most of the time.
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