Prospecting: Do you think a simple phone call is enough?

With sales getting more and more complex, I am amazed how some of the salespeople we work with still complain that they can’t get to the decision makers the first time around.

This issue is almost unreal.

These days, in order to be successful in terms of commercial prospecting, it often takes 3, 4 or more phone calls to get to our customers.

It is normal for commercials to say that they are immediately barred when they try to schedule a meeting with a decision maker.

The problem here is that the telephonists and assistants are now trained to “sniff” commercials.

If on the other side they think there is a commercial, they immediately try to find out more and if the person starts to waver, then they really bar the access.

Now what do we call wavering?

For example, shaking your voice, not giving convincing arguments, sometimes until you try to be very nice.

That is not to say that being nice is bad, but in this situation it can be counterproductive.

Let us think together: in everyday life, which of the senses does a telephone operator favour?

Of course, the hearing.

So she’s much more used to feeling some incongruity in your voice.

In this sense, what we are going to say and, above all, how we are going to say it, are fundamental to reach the speech with the decision makers.

Now let us think together again.

If someone calls you asking what the name of the Commercial or General Director is and then you ask them to put you through, what do you think happens?

Of course!

We are immediately identified as commercial and barred.

One of the tricks we teach in our Art of Selling Workshops is a technique we call “Horse Jumping”.

Now, what is this?

It’s about identifying the contact first under any excuse, sending an invitation to an event, or sending a letter, finally whatever is most appropriate in your case and hang up after collecting the name of the contact.

It may not seem the most efficient way to work in commercial terms, but the fact that we don’t want to eat the cake all at once will only allow us to be more successful when we then call to talk to the decision maker.

The next day is then time to call, asking to speak directly to the decision maker by name, doing so in a safe and firm voice and not giving too many details.

The idea is on the side of there they think we already know the decision maker and that we are calling for the second or third time.

In sales teams where we implement this technique in Training and Commercial Coaching projects we can achieve increases of 30% to 40% in the success in scheduling meetings.

At this point you’ll be thinking, but how can I train authority in Voice?

How can I not waver or tremble in this kind of contacts?

One of the techniques we usually use with the teams we train is related to two essential instruments.

The use of scripts
The script’s mental and verbal essay
Why is the use of scripts important?

Because it allows us to systematize and adjust the speech until it is perfect.

If we don’t register and every time we connect it differently, we are running the risk of letting go of an argument that is even working.

It doesn’t mean we have to be robots saying exactly what’s there.

But if this guideline doesn’t exist, the experience we have on the ground is that we’re not going to be able to have a consistent argument.

In the case of the rehearsal, we recommend that it be done in a mental and verbal way.

Not only should we record our argument to a tape recorder or otherwise on the PC, but ideally we should do so when we are on a real call.

The second component of the essay is the mental component.

Close your eyes and imagine that you are making the phone call with the phone in hand, with the person responding and rehearsing mentally.

By repeating this process mentally you will get it to become second nature and when you go to the real phone the process will become much simpler.

This process has shown fantastic results in telemarketing teams, because it allows training the conscious and the subconscious at the same time.

And as we know, our subconscious does much more for the sale in good and bad sense than we imagine.

This week for some thinking:

“Did my approach to clients come to a standstill in the last century?

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Also published on Medium.