Last week, I got a cold call from Manulife.
Based in Montreal, he was making dials to sign up small business wwners for a consultation session.
Strike One: The Greeting
Sales Rep: “Hi! How are you doing today?”
Brain: Here we go. Another well-intentioned young professional whose boss told them to make phone calls to rally some business. It’s typical. I already know you haven’t been doing this long and are likely struggling to sign up clients, no matter what your offer is.
Strike Two: I wasn’t asked for my time.
Sales Rep: Jumps right into it…
Brain: Oh, for goodness sake. I’m now caught on the phone, and my two options are: be rude and hang up, OR slam my head on the table in a silent objection.
Strike Three: Qualification
Sales Rep: “We work with a lot of small business owners to help them with their wealth management”.
Brain: …who has what issues? So what, you work with other SMB owners! That’s a broad group. Am I like them?
You’re Out: The Ask
Sales Rep: “Can I sign you up for a session with our consultant?”
Brain: You developed no credibility as to why I would want to invest that time. You created no curiosity. You told me nothing unique about you.
And you stumbled when I asked if you had local Winnipeg-based professionals to help with my wealth management.
Why invest more time here?
Bonus: Strike Four
Me: “Do you know what type of business I'm in?”
Sales Rep: “No, I don’t.”
Brain: There are only supposed to be 3 strikes. Ugh, why do so many people make the sales profession look like it is full of non-professionals? Is it too much to ask that a tiny bit of research be done before an auto-dialer rings my cell phone???
What’s a sales trainer, coach, and consultant to do?
Reverse the conversation.
- Permission: I asked if I could share a little about what it is that I do, to verify you don’t meet my Ideal Client Profile.
- 30 Second Commercial: I specifically call out challenges that an individual in his position is experiencing. i.e. Making lots of dials, but not getting as many sign-ups as he is asked to deliver. Frustrated that he is spending too much time calling people who hang up or are polite and don't book meetings.
- Value Statement: I briefly share how Sandler helps driven sales professionals develop the right combination of behaviours, attitudes, and techniques to be successful more often than without them. Asked him, would it be worth any of your time to know some of these things that others have learned?
- Research: I gathered information about the sales leader; they are part of the problem, but often don’t want to admit it. I plan to call said sales leader with a commercial designed to speak to them in their world as sales leaders about working with salespeople who seem to have promise but don't quite deliver the way they did when they were doing the job.
- Review: Question whether it makes any sense to further discuss this. There's a good chance that an interesting conversation still has a suspect who won’t admit they want the help. Often, a person on the phone is the only employee who doesn’t recognize the growth they could achieve if they learned on their own. They likely aren't qualified if they have never invested in themselves before. Asking them to do what I do is too big a leap, even if it would help. On their own, the probability that they will qualify is low, but I'll check. Plus, that individual has colleagues who are likely in the same situation; it’s my responsibility to help them all. I can’t always. But they would make more commitments if they knew what I’m proud to have learned from Sandler!
At the end of the call, I declined their consultation offer because they didn’t address any specific issue or concern I had regarding my wealth management. They were throwing things at the wall.
The caller shared that it would be valuable if they were taught how to do what I did on the call. He agreed to give my name and number to his manager, who could listen to the call recording before dialling me up.
In this scenario, the caller wouldn’t share the sales manager’s name. Often, they do.
That’s a suspect.
Next challenge: how do you turn a suspect into a prospect?
ASK Sandler works with driven organizations in Manitoba to help them grow their people, grow their business, and grow themselves.
If you want to build stronger beliefs and behaviours inside your sales team, come be our guest in a class or book a 15-minute chat.
