“Just” anything.
The word just sounds weak and diminishes everything that fol-lows it: “I’m just calling to see if I could ask a few questions” Just get rid of “just.”
“Wanted to introduce myself and company to you.”
This isn’t a cocktail party or a networking mixer. Remember who they care about: themselves, not you. It adds no significance and takes up valuable time.
Any mention of products or services without an accompanying results statement.
As in “I’m with Dunlap Services, a local messenger service. I’d like to talk to you about your messenger needs.” In response, people can very easily say, “We don’t need that” or “We’re satisfied with who we’re using” if you mention a product or service without the result. Products and services can incite resistance. Results are much tougher to reply negatively to.
“You sure are a hard guy to reach!”
There’s a good reason for this: They are busy and important. And you’ve just wasted a few seconds of their precious time stating the obvious. You’ve also positioned yourself as a salesperson and given them time to formulate their “I’m going to get this guy off the phone” strategy.
Sounding salesy
This includes anything that reeks of old-school, smarmy, stereo-typical salespeople. For instance:
“As you know, we are the top provider of. . . .” Whenever I hear
“As you know,” I begin thinking of reasons why I wouldn’t know.
“I’m sure you would agree. . ..” Tell someone this, and they prob-ably won’t agree.
“If I could show you a way to get a top five position in the major search engines, you’d want that, wouldn’t you?” Please, promise me you will never say, “If I could show you a way” in an opening.
It is so absurd. You’re asking someone to make a commitment before they know any of the details.
“Are you the person there in charge of. . . ?” As in “Hi, I’m Pat Seller with ABC Company. Are you the person there who would handle the decisions regarding your ?” You might as well start off the call with “I’m selling something. Are you the person I should be selling it to?”
Someone reading this might ask, “Okay, but we are trying to sell something, and we want to be sure that this is the person we should be talking to, right?”
Right. But that is not the way or the time to do it, and we do not want it to seem like we are just trying to sell them something. Here’s why:
r People would rather not talk to salespeople they don’t know. It’s natural, like the way we avoid the salespeople in retail stores who stalk after us and ask, “May I help you?” Again, people like to buy but don’t want to be sold. A statement like this there-fore announces your sales intentions, triggering the defensive posture.
r You have about seven seconds to move a person into a positive, receptive frame of mind on a Smart Call. If you’re not doing that, they’re slipping into a negative mind-set, moving into the
“How do I get rid of this salesperson?” mode. The question about
“Are you the person?” solidifies that before you have even begun to create interest.
r You should already know—before you ever hear their voice—that they are the decision maker for what you sell. You have read
the previous chapters about gathering intelligence and social engineering, right?
“Can You Help Me?”
As we discussed in the chapter on gatekeepers and assistants, this is a valuable question with people performing those roles. With decision makers, however, it’s a horrible technique. It creates resistance. Let’s listen in:
Decision Maker (interrupted from whatever she’s doing—which is most likely not staring at the phone waiting for a sales call): “Pat Kelly here.”
Caller: “Hi Pat, Dale Doofus with Ace Services. Can you help me?”
Decision Maker (wondering “Who is this person, and what does he want? Probably a salesperson.”): “What do you need?”
Caller (Now combining a couple of the other mistakes): “Yes, I was just wondering, are you the person there responsible for the secure storage of your paper records?”
Decision Maker: “I am, but we’re all set.”
Let’s dissect what has happened: The caller wasted about 15 sec-onds arousing the decision maker’s suspicion that he was probably someone calling to sell something and then confirming it. The neg-ative momentum is like a freight train rolling downhill.
And by the way, their job is not to help you! How arrogant is that? Your job is to help them! You need to be able to quickly communicate how you might be able to do that before they have had a chance to move into “Get rid of salesperson” mode. Unless you’re calling for a charity, don’t call to ask for the decision maker’s help.
Don’t Apologize for Wanting to Help Them
Apologizing for taking someone’s time at the beginning of a call diminishes your importance. For example, consider the caller who says, “I know you’re busy, and I’m sorry for interrupting. I’ll take just a few seconds, and here’s why I’m calling.”
Stop. Think about what you’re really offering. You have some-thing of value that will help make this person’s life better—right?
If you’re not sold on your importance, then they certainly won’t be.
Everyone is busy. If what you have is of value, you earn their time, and they’ll want to speak with you. (More on the time issue later.)