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Smart Calling — Chapter-19: More Smart Calling Success Tips
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C H A P T E R 19 More Smart Calling Success Tips T o wrap up this book, I’ll share some additional brief tips you can use in your Smart Calling. Send an E-Mail to Find the Buyer If you don’t know the decision maker’s (or makers’) name and are having trouble getting cooperation from screeners or gatekeep- ers, then consider using electronic methods. Browse the company’s site and look for the “Contact Us” information. Send an e-mail to the address indicated or to one of the departments that might be more appropriate. Say something like “I was at your site and could not locate the address and name of your Director of Finance. Could you please reply with that information so I can contact them directly?” 218
More Smart Calling Success Tips 219 Easy Way to Find More Buyers Here’s an idea for getting referrals: If you run across a start-up com- pany while prospecting, ask your contact for someone to talk to at their previous employer. Often, start-ups are spawned from larger companies that are in similar businesses and buying like items. Use a Calling Card Here’s a suggestion from Patrick Killam with Killam Publishing on getting to decision makers: “I was reading a column in your newsletter about ways to get through to your party when they notice your number from caller ID and are avoiding your call. A great way that I work around this is that I buy a calling card (can be picked up at any local store). When you go through a calling card there are many different ways it can appear on someone’s caller ID. It can say ‘Unknown Caller.’ It could be a number from out of state that goes through another phone network, etc. But, bottom line, I’ve had much success with this system. It’s quick, easy and you can do it from the convenience of your office at a minimal expense ($.03 a minute).” Draw a Decision-Making Organizational Chart Knowing who else in an organization will influence the purchase helps you to formulate and implement your optimum sales approach. You can simply ask for this information: “Tell me, is there anyone else who will be involved in the final purchase decision?” When you find this out, it is helpful to create and update your own organizational chart of the prospect’s company after each call. Fill in little tidbits of info about each person in his or her box. Then refer to the chart before each call so that you can put yourself in the prospect’s environment, comprehend who else needs to be sold, and realize what needs to take place before you can win the deal.
220 Smart Calling How to Locate Other Decision Makers We always need to discern the decision-making process within an organization and determine who the key players are. Here’s a good way to learn that information without bluntly saying, “So, what’s your title?” or “Are you the decision maker?” After your contact mentions someone’s name—such as “I’ll discuss this with Jerry Smith”—reply with “So, Jerry Smith works for you?” They typically answer with something like “Oh, no, he’s the VP of Finance” or “Yes, he’s the supervisor in charge of. . ..” In any event, they provide great info you can use to continue questioning. Write Down Every Name You Hear Every time your prospect or customer mentions a name of someone else in the organization, write it down. Ask about their title and function: “You mentioned you’re going to run it by Gary. Who is he?” They might be a key player in the sales process. Find out for sure. Follow Your Buyers While listening to some taped phone calls for a training session at Deluxe Business Systems, I heard a rep named Matt Davis reach a customer who said they were closing the company soon. After expressing his regrets, Matt said, “Where are you going to go?” Great question! That’s a smart way of following a buyer and setting the stage to open an account with the customer’s new company. Be Ready When You Are on Hold When a customer or prospect puts your call on hold, don’t lean over to the person next to you and get in a conversation. You risk losing your train of thought and focus for this call. Plus, it detracts from the intimacy of the call if the customer comes back on line and hears you midsentence with someone else.
More Smart Calling Success Tips 221 Get Referrals from within Their Company If you have a customer within a company that has multiple locations—or many departments at one location—you probably haven’t even scratched the surface of potential business. The hard part is over: getting the company as a customer. Now that you’re in the door as part of the family, ferret out other opportunities. Ask your customer, “Who else within your company also uses [does] ? Who could also take advantage of something similar to what we’re doing together?” Prompt them a bit: “How about other departments or loca- tions?” Even if they come up empty, you can ask them, “If I can find other buyers on my own, would it be a problem if I mention your name as a reference?” Should Cell Phones Be Sell Phones? The question of whether it’s appropriate to prospect someone on their cell phone has provoked some discussion. Personally, the only time I would consider calling a prospect or customer on his cell phone is if he specifically asked me to. Of course, that would require some prior communication, which would pretty much exclude calling a cell phone on a prospecting call. Even though more and more people have gotten rid of their home phone lines and replaced them with their cells—and many keep their cell with them at all times, even at the office—I don’t feel it is appropriate to use that as a means to reach someone unless you have permission. Some way, somehow, still unbeknownst to me, an investment broker type got access to my cell number, which I rarely give out. I didn’t recognize the phone number that popped up but answered anyway and fully expected to hear a familiar voice. He acted as if he knew me, using cheesy “How ya doin’ old buddy” words and tone. As soon as I realized it was a salesperson, my attitude turned to one of mild anger. I grilled him as to how he got my number. It went downhill from there, with him eventually hanging up on me. Here are a few other related points. r Never try to get someone’s cell phone number on your own when prospecting. Reps have proudly told me they’ve asked assistants
222 Smart Calling and secretaries for decision makers’ cell numbers without actually stating that they know the person, but giving that impression. Not wise. Just think of the reaction you’d get from the person when you call. r If on the prospect’s voice mail she mentions, “or you can call me on my cell phone,” I still suggest getting permission before you use it. If you don’t know them, they shouldn’t have to pay for the call so that you can market to them. r If an assistant volunteers, “You can reach him on his cell phone,” be absolutely certain that it’s okay to call it. “Is that the way she prefers to take her calls? You’re sure that’s okay?” As far as using a cell phone yourself for calls—I suggest a landline unless it is impossible. I’ve yet to speak with anyone who has the perfect cell service where calls are not dropped and service does not fade in and out. Give Information on Your Voice Mail Greeting I have to chuckle every time I hear a voice mail or home answering machine greeting that says, “I’m unable to come to the phone right now” or “I can’t answer the phone right now.” It reminds me of the TV commercial with the little old lady spread out on the floor, saying, “I’ve fallen and can’t get up.” Avoid “I’m unable to come to the phone.” It says nothing. Give some information. Provide something more positive, such as “I’m in meetings until 12 noon on Thursday and will return calls then. In the meantime, you can hit extension 25 and speak with Tom Smith.” Tell them where you are and when they can expect to hear from you. Don’t Create Interruptions I was talking casually to a sales rep while touring a client facility. He complained, “I just don’t have enough time to get everything done. I have a hard time hitting my prospecting call numbers.” During our brief conversation (less than five minutes), his computer alarm chimed
More Smart Calling Success Tips 223 twice to announce new e-mail messages. He excused himself both times and whirled around in his chair to check the message. I asked, “Do you do that all day long?” His expression turned into a wince—one of those “Yeah, I know” looks we get when confronted with something we know we shouldn’t be doing. I know; it’s difficult if you’re in the e-mail habit. (Personally, I’m guilty. I even checked e-mail once as I wrote this brief tip!) But here are some ideas. r Stay off-line completely. Check e-mail at set intervals, say, twice a day. r If you can’t do that, for gosh sakes, do turn off the alarm, or the text or graphic pop-up that alerts you to new messages. This job is hard enough without inviting more interruptions. Take Notes on What They Say and Mean Sales rep Larry Feil shared a suggestion about taking notes while on calls. It’s one thing to record what people say, but that’s usually only part of the story. You should also note what they really mean. Larry suggests drawing a line down your paper, heading the left side with “What They Said” and the right with something like “How They Said It” or “What They Meant.” For example, in the left column you might write, “Says they will hold off for a month due to budget constraints.” In the right column, you might say, “Sounds very tentative in speech. Very squeamish on this issue, even though he is sold on product. Sounds like there’s something else here, but he’s not comfortable discussing.” Smart Calling Action Step What will you commit to do as a result of this chapter?