A $250,000 sale on the first call? Believe it.
Nearly all of my clients do business-to-business, relationship-based selling, with much or all of that process conducted by phone (note: the approach that follows also works face-to-face). Thus, only a small percentage of their phone calls are truly “cold”, but those calls require the utmost in telesales skill, because they set the stage for all that follows.
On a first call, a prospect will give you about ten seconds to ideally do four things – say who you are, what company you work for, what the company does, and then provide a brief, compelling, and, most of all, non-threatening reason for your call. A tall order indeed.
The first three items – called the Greeting in the telesales industry – are straightforward, but still require thought. I always suggest providing your first and last name with prospects, because being straightforward and complete reduces their immediate suspicions.
When it comes to saying what the company does, I advise saying it compactly and conversationally. Example: Although the Walt Disney Company might be involved in 100 businesses, a simple and instant description might be, “the theme parks and movie people”.
The last part, the Headline, is the killer, for it must be compelling AND non-threatening, especially to the stranger’s time. But how can you convey to a complete stranger that you might be of genuine assistance, which takes time to explain, without scaring him or her away?
As a commission-only salesperson for 17 years, I was always on the lookout for a better approach to use with prospects. The ideal was to find one that applied to nearly any product or service, and I found a few that worked quite well. And then I met Frank.
I hired Frank as a telesales professional for a California client, a value-added reseller of computer products. Frank had worked in financial services, and the first day on the job, he called a major restaurant chain in the area and used a headline I hadn’t heard before.
I was stunned when he came to me later that day to say he had sold 50 fully-loaded laptops to the chain for a total of $250,000.
This was Frank’s Greeting and Headline:
“Jack, this is Frank Jordan with Microline in Santa Ana; we’re a cost-plus hardware reseller, and I wanted to see what procedure you’d like me to follow to compete for some of your business…”
I was impressed, and I got permission from Frank to use the headline in the future. Here’s what makes it work.
First, notice that the Headline is simultaneously aggressive and polite, and in the balance of the Headline, Frank is doing several crucial things in very little time:
1) “…what procedure you’d like me to follow…” Frank knows that the prospect, not Frank, is in charge of this process. Frank also conveys that he will jump through whatever hoops the prospect wants him to jump through, even if that might take a considerable amount of time.
2) “…to compete for… (not “get” or “earn” – Frank knows there are other vendors out there)
3) “…some (not “all” – Frank knows he may have to start small) …of your business.”
With every word, Frank is communicating brevity, patience, deference, and a willingness to follow the prospect’s rules, all while clearly saying he’d like to be on the future order radar screen.
Also notice that Frank is able to communicate everything he needs to – who he is, what company he’s calling from, what the company does, and the reason for his call – as he is asking the prospect his first qualifying question! Many initial telesales approaches ask questions before the prospect’s initial suspicions are satisfied, and they are usually a guaranteed ticket to dismissal.
Since we get so many lousy sales calls, cold call approaches must be exquisitely crafted. Your sales situation might need something different than the “procedure” headline above, but ensure that it addresses the multiple, immediate psychological needs of the prospect just as well and you’ll be way ahead in your results.
©2008, Sales Rebound Associates
About the author: Peter Belanger, one of America’s top Inside Sales consultants, is the producer of the authoritative 15-part “Telecoach” video series on B2B inside sales in conjunction with CareerTrack, and author of Credit Union Telemarketing, published by Credit Union National Association.
Peter is past president of the Southern California Chapter of the American Teleservices Association and is a frequent guest lecturer on telesales and inside sales at UCLA. His “Ten Commandments of Telemarketing” and CallCoach assessment form are both considered industry standards.
Peter’s clients include Universal Studios, Hartford Insurance, Cisco Systems, Volvo, GE Capital, Wells Fargo Bank, Microsoft, Xerox, IBM, Fender Music, Franklin Covey, HP, Allergan Pharmaceuticals, Akzo Nobel, Intel and over 150 other companies who wish to maximize their inside sales results.
Sales Rebound Associates
Peter Belanger, President
25 W. Rolling Oaks Dr. #203
Thousand Oaks CA 91361
P 805 370 5327 F 805 370 5406
peter@salesrebound.com
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