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The Worst Cold Call Ever.

Sales Blog

shutterstock_152196302If you’re looking for a guide to “how not to do it” when it comes to cold calling, a real-life call can help.

I’ve maintained for a long time that cold calling can be a good, predictable way to bring on new business -and that there’s very little downside to it other than the fact that most salespeople don’t like to do it.

I may have to revise that – at least the part concerning the downside.  I am now very much anti-Sage.  You know, Sage, the accounting people?  They have been blowing up my phone with cold calls.  Each one is worse than the last.  In fact, if you’re dedicated to making the worst possible cold calls, here’s a step by step guide.

1. Use an auto-dialer.  I HATE auto dialers.  And you always know when they’re in use because of that little hesitation betwee answering the phone and hearing someone – perhaps surprised at getting an actual vlice – picks up and begins the call.  Nothing says “I don’t care about this call enough to dial the phone myself” like an auto-dialer.

 

2.  The “person who” call.  I’ve said many times that the “person who” call is a sales killer.  This one was.  “May I speak to the person who handles your accounts payable?”  As the President, CEO, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer, and Accounts Payable Dude of Troy Harrison and Associates, that tells me that they didn’t even take a second to figure out who they were calling.

 

3.  English as a fourth language.  I’m going to offend some people here.  Sorry, folks, but it’s true.  I have nothing against those who are from other places and learn our language.  But – If I can’t understand you, I’m not going to buy from you.  I could barely understand the person who called.

 

4.  Hang up when the script isn’t followed.  I attempted to say, “Stop for a second.  I’m not a prospect for you.  Please take me off your call list.”  By the time I got to “for a,” the line went dead.  That’s just plain rude.  This is where I go from being an inappropriate customer call to being, frankly, pissed off at having my time wasted and then being treated rudely.

 

5.  Repeat – again and again.  Now you can send your customer into orbit.  Having denied them the opportunity to politely request that they be taken off your list, simply call them back – again and again and again and again.  I only wish I were kidding; I’ve received at least two calls a day for the last week and a half.  And never once have I been able to finish the request to be taken off their list.  Worse, they constantly change up the number they’re calling from, so they call faster than I can block the numbers in my phone.

Really, this is absolutely the worst teleprospecting effort that I’ve ever seen or been the victim of.  And my overriding impression is that if this is how awful Sage is when they’re trying to get your business, how bad will they be when they have it?

Moral of the story:  If the above five points are part of your teleprospecting program, STOP.  CHANGE.  DO SOMETHING ELSE.

“Sales is the Solution” at the Lee’s Summit (MO) Chamber of Commerce – July 1, 2014

Sales Blog

Tuesday, July 1, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

The environment for professional salespeople has changed more in the last 10 years than in the previous 100.  Today’s Internet-driven information society has produced a more educated, savvy customer base that demands more than the old, tactic-heavy sales techniques.  Today’s salesperson must earn his or her way into the customer’s buying process; if they do not, the customer can simply buy over the Internet.  In this workshop, Troy Harrison shows salespeople the way forward into the brave new world of selling.  Topics covered include:

· What’s different about selling today
· The three categories of salespeople
· What your customer demands from you (and will cut you out if you don’t provide it)
· What your customer demands that you NOT do
· Becoming an All Around Profit Center
· And More!

Who Should Attend:  Professional Salespeople and Sales Manager

Learning Objectives:  Attendees will learn a new approach to selling that will allow them to survive and thrive in today’s Internet driven sales environment.

Click here for more information or to register!

Five Common Sales Call Killers That You Should Avoid

Sales Blog, The Navigator News, ,

Have you ever committed sales suicide by one of these five common sales call killers?  Chances are that you have, and you might not even know it.

Salespeople have a lot of tactics and techniques that turn out to be both time-wasters and contact-breakers.  Many times, when I ask them what they’re doing, they tell me that they’re “trying to make the prospect comfortable.”  That might be true, but usually, the truth is that they are trying to make THEMSELVES comfortable.  If you do some of these things, you might take the time to ask yourself why – and who it is you’re trying to comfort? Here are five common sales call killers that you should avoid – and many salespeople do them every day.

“Hi, Mr. Prospect.  How are you today?”  This is the all-time time waster, and is the death of more potentially great sales conversations than any other phrase.  It’s also the most common, and in my training, I warn against it.  When this is used in a cold-prospecting environment by a salesperson who doesn’t know the prospect, it’s a virtual announcement to the prospect that the caller is a pesky salesperson who is incapable of making the most of his or her time on the phone.  The reaction by the prospect is always the same:  “Uh, fine.  Who is this?” or some variation on the theme.  But what has happened with that simple little phrase is that the prospect, whom you really want to approach your call with an open mind, has now geared up his or her defenses and is prepared to resist.  That’s pretty much the opposite of what you want to happen.  The truth is that “how are you today” is a bridge to a conversation built by a salesperson who is uncomfortable with his or her message, and is stalling before delivering it.  Don’t be that guy (or gal).  Get comfortable with your message, and dump that question.

“Is this a good time for me to call?”  Here’s the truth – when you’re calling a decision maker, it’s hardly ever a great time to call.  Therefore, the best thing you can do is be as respectful as possible of their time by being impactful and communicating value.  But asking that question creates a great opportunity for the prospect to dump you off the phone, never to hear from you again.  Again, this is delivered by salespeople uncomfortable with their own message.  Instead, go ahead and make a GOOD approach statement.  If it’s REALLY a bad time, your prospect will tell you.

“Fish on the Wall” selling.  Everybody knows what this is, right?  That’s the salesperson who enters a prospect’s office, sees a fish mounted on the wall, says, “Did you catch that fish?  Hey, I fish too!” and then spends an inordinate amount of time talking about fishing – or whatever personal interest they observe.  It’s not a great practice when the salesperson really IS an enthusiast, but it becomes downright pathetic when the salesperson isn’t.  Example – my favorite sport happens to be auto racing, and it’s not a casual pursuit.  I’ve done everything in it, up to and including owning and driving my own race cars.  When a salesperson enters my office and tries to build fake rapport with an obviously solicitous discussion of racing, it works against his desire to make a sale.  Why?  Because it’s phony.  You didn’t enter that office to talk racing (or fishing, or whatever) – you entered to attempt to make a sale.  Whether you’re working on selling or not, the clock is ticking.

“Just.”  This is a word that salespeople use to take the edge off their communications.  For example, “I was ‘just’ calling to follow up…” etc.  The problem with this is that the word “just” diminishes the importance of whatever follows, by definition.  And if what you’re doing/saying isn’t important to you, why should it be important to the customer?  If selling is important to you, the truth is that you don’t “just” do anything.  You do it.  Eliminate the “just calling” stuff from your communications, and you’ll have more impact.

“I’m seeing if you have any questions.”  This is a great one, usually used after a salesperson has delivered a proposal.  “I’m calling to see if you have any questions about my proposal” really means “I’d like to have the business,” but the salesperson doesn’t have the guts to ask for it.  Guess what – if your prospect has questions, they’re probably smart enough to call you and ask.  So why are you trying to diminish the importance of the act of asking for business?  The truth is that you have fear, and you need to let it go.

All of these communications habits have something in common – a salesperson who is uncomfortable with the role and task of selling.  If you’re using them, take a deep look inside yourself and ask why.  You might be startled at what you find out.  There’s nothing unimportant about the act of selling, and you shouldn’t diminish the importance of your job with comments like the five common sales call killers above.

What If You DON’T Get Voice Mail?

Sales Blog

I get asked frequently how to deal with voice mail.  Interestingly, in today’s world, it seems that some aren’t prepared to NOT get voice mail.

In my Sales Training programs, I get asked frequently how to deal with voice mail.  Interestingly, in today’s world, it seems that some aren’t prepared to NOT get voice mail.  I had just such an incident on Friday after hours.  I was recruiting, and I had called a woman about a position that she had applied for, and left a voice mail.  About 6:30, my cell phone rang, and I recognized her number.  So, I answered the phone.  And she hung up.  Then she called back about two minutes later, and again, I answered – and again, she hung up.  Clearly, she was hoping to get voice mail and leave a message rather than talk to the live human being that she’d called.  If she calls back today (I think she will), I’ll still give her an interview – but I’ll definitely ask her why she didn’t talk to me on Friday.

The sales parable here is this:  A lot of salespeople fail not because they don’t prepare for the WORST, but because they don’t prepare for the BEST.  They assume that they won’t get the sale, so they don’t take order forms into the call; they assume that they’ll get dumped to a subordinate so they’re unprepared to talk to the owner; they assume that the owner won’t talk to them so they settle for middle management that has to ask their boss in order to buy; or they assume that they’ll get voice mail so they are unprepared to talk to the live person.

Do any of these sound familiar?  If so, your biggest competitor isn’t other service providers or even the status quo – it’s YOURSELF.  Don’t ever compete with yourself.

To Tell the Truth

Sales Blog

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten went something like this:  “If you always tell the truth, you never have to keep your story straight.”  A candidate that I interviewed last week should have gotten this advice.

Without going into detail, a potentially strong candidate lost a shot at a job that he very much wanted because his stories didn’t match up.  I interviewed him and my client interviewed him, and at the end of the process, we compared notes – and his reported compensation didn’t match.  In fact, it wasn’t even close.  In my world, one lie = disqualification, so he’s out.

There’s a lesson in this for a lot of people.  For salespeople, know your numbers and report them HONESTLY, even if you don’t really like what you think they say about you.  Even a mediocre number is better than a lie.

For hiring managers, this is the best argument against the one-interview hire that I can think of.  Multiple conversations force salespeople into consistency; if no consistency exists, the salesperson is out.

And of course, nobody spots a lie quicker than your CUSTOMERS.  Lie to them, and you’re history, never to recover.

Oh, and being on time is a good thing as well.  I’m actually taking a few minutes to write this while waiting on a late candidate.  In three more minutes, her opportunity is gone, too.

Thoughts From the B2B Sales Expo

Sales Blog

Lessons learned from the B2B Sales Expo

Once again, the Overland Park Chamber did it up right.  A great B2B Sales Expo today.  And of course, I have been inspired.  Following are a few random thoughts and tips that don’t fit anywhere else.

Again, as I noted, the OP Chamber did it first class.  A good trade show can be a great source of leads for me, and this one was no exception.  When I attend an event like this, I tend to see several situations and types of contacts that inspire content.  The problem is that a lot of these things do not fit within a HotSheet, since they just don’t justify the 700 to 1000 words necessary for a good article.  Hence, here is a collection.

I don’t give away free stuff at trade shows.  I used to; I had the pens and candy like a lot of other people.  What I discovered was that I’d give away lots of stuff to the people who go to trade shows specifically to get free stuff.  That’s OK.  The problem, I found, was that a lot of these people would feel guilty about just grabbing a pen, so they would engage me in conversations to feign interest while having no real interest or reason for discussion.  While those conversations were happening, I’d miss real leads.  So, I don’t give away freebies.  I get less people to the booth, but the interest factor is MUCH higher.  Give it some thought.

Don’t be afraid of B2B Sales

Along with that, I give very little time to those who wish to sell to ME at shows.  I’m spending money to exhibit and they’re not; hence, if they want to try to sell to me, make a quick intro, give me a card, and follow up later.  On a couple of occasions, I had to politely move people along today.  Don’t be afraid to do this; that’s YOUR time that they’re using.  If you’re not protective of your time, who will be?

One such person came by offering a telephone cold-calling service.  At least that’s what I think she was offering; to be honest, getting info from her was like pulling teeth.  Which begs the question:  If she can’t quickly and concisely explain what SHE does for a living, how can she do so on my behalf?

Shows like this are great networking opportunities, and the layout of the room was well set to facilitate good networking as well as good booth traffic.  There weren’t really any “bad” booths.

Overall, it was a great B2B sales show.  I had a good and participative crowd at my 3:30 Networking seminar, and I want to thank everyone with the Chamber, everyone who attended or stopped by the booth.

Everyone Needs a Hobby!

Sales Blog

Do you have a hobby?  By “hobby,” I mean something that you enjoy doing enough that it is mentally engrossing, that requires (or gets) your entire mental focus?  If not, you may be performing at less than top capacity.

This was proven to me again yesterday.  I’ve always been a big believer in the need for people to have things in their lives that encompass us when we do them; there are real business benefits to doing so.  I read an article about 10 years ago (and I’m sorry, I can’t find it again), but essentially, a psychologist was suggesting that the existence of mentally encompassing hobbies or activities actually aided our problem-solving capabilities at work.  The idea is that, when you have a problem at work, sometimes the best thing is to get completely away from it and focus on another activity that takes you entire focus.  While your conscious mind is working on your hobby, behind the scenes your subconcious is still wrestling with the initial problem – with the advantage of not having the immediate deadline to take part of the focus.  If you’ve ever been playing golf, playing catch with your kids, etc., and had the solution to a problem jump into your mind, you know what I’m talking about.

This was proven to me again yesterday.  I have a couple of encompassing hobbies; one is bowling and one is working on cars.  Yesterday, I was wrestling with a particularly difficult problem on a car.  Two components essentially wanted to share the same space, and it was impossible for them to do so.  But, I couldn’t figure out how to remount one of them to make the situation work.  After about an hour of positioning and repositioning the components, and finding lots of ways NOT to make the situation work, I stopped.  I went upstairs, had dinner, and then after dinner started working on some training materials for a program I’m putting on next week.

After about a half an hour of engrossing myself in business, bingo – the right solution to the car problem hit me.  It’s simple, elegant, and will require about $5 worth of new steel and 10 minutes of fabrication.  It’ll even look good.  I quickly made a couple of notes – I didn’t even have to look at the car again to know it would work – and then went back to work on the training materials.  This, of course, is an example of the problem solving process in reverse (the work helped me solve a hobby problem), but it has worked the same way with business more often than with hobbies.  Visitors to my workshop are sometimes entertained by me stopping my work in the middle, running over to a pad and pen on the workbench, making some notes, and then getting back to my work.  This is also why, if you see me eating lunch alone, you’ll see me reading the Wall Street Journal frequently.  It’s mentally engrossing, and that gives my mind a relief valve to work on solving problems in the background.

The point of all this is that, sometimes, the least effective people are those who are 100% focused on their work, all the time.  Without a mental escape route, your mind can’t solve the problems that you encounter.  Considering that all of business is about solving problems and inventing solutions, if you don’t have a hobby – consider getting one, or find some activity that can act as an escape valve.