| Your Phone Opener |
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What's Your Sign?
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 SOMEONE 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 Wonderful Web Design. Thank you for taking my call."
"Renee, this is Henry from Wonderful Web Design. 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 customer 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. In my book and during trainings, I refer to "Freeze Questions". Yep, they make the customer grow stone cold because these are the questions that are so off-putting that the customer wants to stand up, raise a palm into the air and yell, "STOP!!!" So when Henry called and said, "I think we talked", he beautifully perfected delivery of a freeze question. I wanted him to go away. Immediately. What are other freeze questions that shouldn't be used? They are below: 1. "How much do you know about us?" (is this a multiple choice test?) 2. "Do you have the budget for this purchase?" (I do, but not for you!) 3. "Who makes the decision?" (if it ain't me, you just offended me with your ignorance.) 4. "If I can show you a solution today, will you buy?" (a typical used car dealer ploy.) There are many freeze questions, but I'd like to address the ones above, because, YES, it is OK to ask informational, probing questions to direct our closes, but we have to know the most effective way to deliver them with skill and to BUILD the customer relationship, not alienate the customer relationship. Let's take the first one. What you know about us. The only people who ask that question either: 1. Don't know anything about their own company so need advice to make a sale, or 2. Were prompted by the marketing department to ask all of their customers that in order to gather data on what advertising vehicles are working most effectively, or 3. Are too lazy to actually plan out what they are going to say in the call, so are creating a short cut so that the customer will sell him/her self (yeah, right.) If you want to know what your customer knows about your firm, first of all, you'll learn during the call. Take the consultative sales approach and avoid this question during your probing. You'll find out by simply having a conversation with the customer. If you need to get the marketing data and it was an inbound call, then after establishing a warm opening to the call, just ask, "Oh, by the way, tell me what prompted you to call?" Make sure your voice is friendly and inviting when you inquire. How about: "Do you have the budget?" We ALL need to know if the customer has signing off power, decision making power, and the power to write a check. However, once again, finesse and timing are critical to gaining access to this information. Simply ask, towards the END of your qualifying strategy, "Tell me more about your planned budge range for this project." Then wait. Often times you can get a range or the customer may tell you more about what competitor's are being considered, or what they paid in the past. Always ask for a RANGE, not just the dollar amount. It's a safer question and one more likely to be answered. Now, "Who makes the decision." What an insulting question! If you have made an outbound call, obviously you think this person is the key to the signed agreement. If you are taking an inbound call, this person is some TYPE of decision maker. We don't know in either case who the real decision makers are, because everyone has others that they consider when making a purchasing decision. If you are selling B to C, there's often a spouse, significant other, family members or friends who often get involved. Selling B to B, you have a plethora of other decision makers from the bankers to the mail room clerks and everyone in between, depending on what you are selling! A more effective approach to finding out who the decision makers are is to ask, "So, tell me about your decision making process." Then, shut up. Wait for an answer that involves a story of the who, who, what, and who. Lastly, "If I can show you a solution today, will you buy?" Some time ago (no names), a quasi-famous sales guy started a company and sold franchises around the globe. He's since passed away, but when he created this "line" to train thousands of salespeople back in the 80's, it was OK. Today, many people, unfortunately, still use his approach and there are tens of thousands of salespeople running around asking prospects this question before an engagement is ever established. Not to mention that the best way to get yourself kissed out of a sale is to put your customer on the spot. No thank you. Today, customers are far more sophisticated decision makers and far less likely to be manipulated by a cheap trick that worked when many of you weren't even born, yet! This ain't the 80's anymore, even for those of us who were around selling stuff then. Avoid putting your customer in an uncomfortable position and it will only help you. A better alternative is to focus on the customer's business issue and provide solutions to his/her problem or challenge. I promise that if it's the right fit, your success rate will be far greater by providing a solution, rather than getting an early commitment that's a lie, or getting hung up on because of an obnoxious question. Happy selling!
Questions from my loyal readers. Thanks for writing! ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) Q: "Yipes! I've contacted all of my regular customers and have maxed out the business I can close with them. Now I need referrals. However, I've never had to ask for them and don't know where to start. What do I do?
A: First of all, call your existing clients and tell them that you thank them for their loyalty and long-term business. Next, share with each one that you are in the process of growing your business to the next level and want to have customers just like them. Lastly, ask these customers who they know will benefit from your services. You may want to even provide some parameters to get the customer thinking. Then wait. You'll get more referrals than you ever expected!
Q: "Renee, I just joined the local Chamber of Commerce and it's overwhelming. They have multiple functions every week and there's no way I can attend everything. How do I get my arms around these events and still keep my job?" A: Congratulations on joining a networking community. You've taken the first step to growing your business through high-touch. Take a look at the calendar of events; focus on when you can go to a regular meeting for the next 4-6 weeks (i.e. lunch on Thursdays), and attend those events. Take plenty of business cards and be prepared to help others with leads for their businesses. After that period is over, assess your contacts and whether your time was well spent and the investment productive. If so, continue to attend at the same time and add another event each week, if possible. If your time wasn't well spent, repeat the process with a different regular function for the next 4-6 weeks. Good luck. |
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