Just the other day I received a call from a salesperson at our office. His opening line went like this, “Hello, this is Henry from (a web design firm). I believe we spoke last week about your website.”
Truth be told, if I responded with my immediate reaction, I would have said, “Henry, if you don’t know if we spoke or not last week, should you really be calling me?” We all know THAT answer. If he doesn’t know, why should I remember? (Oh, and by the way, he had left a message for me the week before, we never actually had a conversation.) At least I remembered!
But is that the customer’s responsibility, to remember when a salesperson called? I certainly don’t think it is. If the salesperson is truly authentic, paying attention and managing his/her business relationships, that’s the professional’s responsibility.
So, what’s your purpose in calling customers, and when you get one on the phone, what do you say? My advice is that you’d better have a better opener than Henry!
Here are a few suggestions:“Ms. Walkup, this is Henry from the web design firm. Thank you for taking my call.”
“Renee, this is Henry from the web design firm. I’m so glad you are in because…”
“This must be my lucky day! I actually caught you. Hi, this is Henry from…”
Since we all know how challenging it is to reach a real human being over the phone, especially when it’s a cold call, how about using some humor, like in the third suggestion above? You’ll need to use your upbeat, friendly voice when you start off your call this way. I’ve often tried this technique and the typical customer reaction is a laugh on the other end of the phone. Do you realize how many calls your is receiving from boring people all day long? This separates you from the pack! Get your customer laughing, or at least curious from the get-go.
As for Henry, he needs some sales training. Know anyone who can help him?
(c) Renee Walkup, SalesPEAK, 678 587-9911 www.salespeak.com |
