I love to build marketing messages based on sales objections.  You already know what issues people bring to the table and how to answer it, so do so before they even get there! Leading with those objection-answers gives you a chance to show you do understand your customers and why they should make the call.  These can be done as a series of emails, a series of blog posts, testimonials that give the reader insight into why the customer was skeptical and how you overcame it, or voice mails that are left for prospects.  Here’s an example of how to work this:

I recently met with a client who’s prospects don’t trust them.  There are some unscrupulous people in their industry and they are always fighting an uphill battle to overcome those concerns.  We developed a list of what other companies have done wrong, and used it as our messages.  We did an email marketing series as well as used them in voice mails.  We pointed out that there are some companies who have experienced X.  We don’t do that – we do this.  It was extremely effective and yielded 40% more inbound contacts.

It was tough for this customer to come up with marketing messages in the past, but now that the sales team is giving them objections and answers, the possibilities have really opened up.  Try this technique and then let me know how it goes!

In the training class, I was shocked when one of the participants continually challenged the trainer to give him exactly the words to say for all situations. This individual complained at one point it would take him “AN HOUR!” to research information to share with his prospects and why couldn’t someone just give it to him?  Throughout the class the trainer repeatedly asked him questions about the situations his prospects found themselves in and how he was addressing their needs. Each time this individual came up short in his answers and didn’t know anything about his prospect-base.

My next appointment after the class was with a vendor.  He was a hard-driving sales person who wants to sell something I don’t think is needed to one of my clients.  In this case he was friendly and asked lots of questions to get at my client’s situation, but each time I started to answer he would interrupt.  Generally his response would be “that’s great!” and then continue on with the line of questioning.  At the end of the hour, I knew lots of reasons the product wasn’t right for my client but when asked, he’ll have no idea why the deal went bad.  In fact, when he tries to answer the questions on the sheet he was following he will find he has no answers to his questions since I wasn’t able to answer.

At the end of the day, I would encourage you to spend a couple minutes and think about what you know about your prospects.  Either say it out loud to someone else or write it down.  Tell them or the paper as much as you can and see where there are holes in the information.  If someone gives you an hour of their time, you should be able to say a whole bunch about them!  If you find that consistently you can’t say much about them, then it is time to look at your discovery process.

The discovery process needs to be about your customer.  I recently had a meeting with a new client and as we were wrapping up I mentioned I was going to talk for about 5 minutes about me so he understood my background.  He laughed, looked at his wife and pointed out they were about to walk out having signed the contract and knowing practically nothing about me because we’d spent the hour talking all about them.  That is the best way to run a sales call because at the end both parties feel good about what happened.  If you do end up leaving before you get to tell about you, do it in the follow up email so they have an idea of who you are.  But the bottom line here is you have to be able to relate their story to others to demonstrate you’ve been successful in the discovery process.  At a minimum, you need to know who they are, what they do (specifically), why they do it, what problems they are having, and why they are talking to you.

What experiences have you had with sales people who didn’t get it?

If I jump into a pool, I have to deal with the change in temperature but it only affects me – unless I splash everyone else in the pool. In reality, most of my clients don’t mind jumping headfirst into something they want to do but is unknown. They know they can figure it out or get used to it or whatever. But walking into that party and bravely walking up to a total stranger and introducing yourself is tough for anyone.  So here are some ideas to make it easier:

1. Know who will be there – research your list first. Don’t just call and ask for a position, call and ask for someone by name.  At that party, it is much more powerful to walk up to someone and say, “excuse me, aren’t you Jane Smith from ABC Company?” than just try to interrupt.  Same with calls – know who you are calling.

2. Create bullet points for what you want to cover. There is nothing worse than answering the phone and having the other person say, “Oh! I expected to get your voice mail!”.  Only once have I said, “okay – here ya go!” and transferred that person to my voice mail but that one was fun.  Scripts are nice, but they often sound like scripts so only read a script if you know you can make it sound natural.  Bullet points allow you to check them off as you hit them but also allows more flexibility.

3. Leave a voice mail – many people have told me over the years they don’t leave voice mail because it is never returned. Well, when I look at my missed phone calls or if I’m in my office and see a number, if the person doesn’t leave a voice mail I wonder why.  It seems odd that their  information wasn’t important enough to go in a voice mail.  Likewise, compelling voice mails CAN get results so have something to say in your voicemail!

4. Actually, have something compelling to say either way.  Tell me something I might not have known, could use in a meeting, could quote to a client, could send in an email, SOMETHING.   That gets people’s attention and gives you the instant credibility you need. In fact, if I have a good piece of information to give a prospect, I generally like to leave it in voice mail or send an email first because then they call me to get more info.  Very powerful stuff.

5. Remember that the difference between interrupting someone at a party and calling them on the phone is they can choose whether they take your call.  If someone is standing next to you trying to talk it is tough to ignore them but if the person is truly busy, they won’t pick up.  So in that regard, they gave you some permission to interrupt – even if it is for a very short time.

Everyone has to make cold calls at some point and they aren’t easy. But having a plan, knowing something of value to say, being honest and professional goes a long way to making it easier.  You have a product or service to offer that this person may need or you wouldn’t call. Just keep that in mind and uh… dive in?

When I began my business, I embraced this philosophy whole-heartedly.  I am not a good hunter.  I don’t like the uncertainty, the failure/misses, or the need to put myself out there like that.  Coincidentally, my clients aren’t either.  They don’t like the hunt.  So we build programs that are more about the harvest.  Being a gatherer has its advantages – people remember you longer and with more warm feelings if you are a gatherer.  I know this is true because in the last two weeks I have run into people I have been cultivating for 6 months who are now ready to do business.  They’ve gotten my newsletters, phone calls, emails and blog articles and now are ready to go. Hooray!

So when I say to be a gatherer – here’s what I recommend:

Know what kind of fruit you want – what kind of business would be best or second best?
Know where the fruit is – know which prospects could give you the type of business you want.
Provide the water and sunlight to the fruit trees – Give them vital information for their business.
Check on the plants – Contact your prospects to see how things are going.  Have a good reason to be checking though!
Be ready to harvest when the fruit is ripe – There is nothing worse than being ready to buy and not being able to for some reason. So when the prospect is ready, be available.  Answer the email or phone call, schedule the meeting, whatever it takes.

The tasks involved in cultivating plants is the same as managing prospects.  Be sure you have the tools you need and backups to help if the market conditions don’t provide what is needed.  After all, slow and steady often wins the race!

Another sales person is one I’ve used as an example in training classes for years. I received a voice mail from a sales training specialist who focuses on getting calls back on voice mails. Sweet! Since I was training people on sales techniques, I figured I’d give him a try and see what happened. His first voice mail was engaging, he came across well, left his phone number at a reasonable speed, and seemed like he might know what he was talking about. And then I got the second voice mail. Guess what? SAME VOICE MAIL. No kidding – not a word or inflection was different. I gave him four shots before I returned his call and all were the exact same email. The voice mail I left him said I appreciated his efforts, but persistence in the same message wasn’t the technique we felt was the most effective so we wouldn’t be hiring him. He did call back and we had a nice chat about using one’s own training techniques as demonstrations.

So what’s the point? These people were good at the mechanics. Both did exactly what their formula said to do. They weren’t thinking about it – to the point that I think the first guy would have been thrown off if I had said I was interested. So stay engaged, be human, and don’t just follow the script. When you research someone, know why your product will help THEM. Make sure it is a good fit so you will both be happier. And my biggest pet peeve, ASK QUESTIONS. Be interested in getting the other person talking! Confirming what they know puts up barriers. Getting them to talk puts them on your team. Learn about your prospects through research and their answers – it is those conversations that result in new business.