1. Prospecting

Expert pull

Description Become an expert in an area where prospective customers have a need for expertise. Or use the expertise you have and develop your sales skills further. Get your interest and expertise known, for example by: Publishing interesting articles in trade journals. Writing a book on the subject. Speaking at subject conferences. Starting a website that is a 'category killer' in the subject. Writing a blog on the subject. Announce your expertise on your business card. With enough publicity, people will beat a path to your door. Example A pen salesperson becomes a national expert on writing style and graphology. A professor of medicine helps in the sales team for medical instrumentation to major customers. Discussion Expertise first of all gives you credibility, and credibility engenders trust. With expertise you have the power of authority and can make unchallenged assertions. With expertise you can also help your customers resolve real problems and so create an exchange dynamic. People like experts, partly because simply by associating with the expert, they feel a little more expert too. The certainty that the expert brings also helps people feel a stronger sense of control. See also Principle of pull, Authority principle

Direct mail

Description Carefully develop and write marketing material that will appeal to your prospective audience. Provide clear and easy contact information, such as: Web address Email address Fax address Free phone number Pre-paid postcard Send it through the mail or otherwise deliver it to their door. Make sure that all calls and messages go to a specialized location that can respond rapidly and knowledgeably. Quickly follow up on all responses. You can do the same with email, although do be careful with the image that is created in all cases. Example An office cleaning company has a national campaign of sending agency-designed material to target companies. All responses are tracked, including those that come through a specially set up web page. Sales people call and visit all respondents. A double-glazing company hand-delivers leaflets to houses in the local area where they are doing work. Discussion Direct mail is not the method of choice for all businesses, but if you want a very wide coverage, it can be a perfectly acceptable method. Direct mail is the equivalent of cold calling as it is targeted at people who may well have no interest, and hence has a very high rejection rate. It is thus important that the cost of mailing is more than offset by the profit from the leads that it gives. Response rates can be increased by the use of promotions such as entering respondents for a draw and may making the material supplied useful or interesting. The relatively high numbers of items printed for a large campaign requires that careful design and proof reading are critical activities. You do not want to give potential customers evidence of shoddy work! Direct mail can cause a negative response and thus should be used carefully. The paper version is often called 'bumph' (from 'bum fodder') and the electronic version is called 'spam'. Most direct mail is not read and goes straight to the bin. See also Use of Language

Web trawling

Description Find information about individuals and organizations who might buy from available information such as their blogs and information on company officers. Companies often have web pages on their sites that describe their history, organization and products. More useful information can be found on pages designed to attract and inform investors. There are also many useful websites and firms that provide company information, such as Hoover's and Dun and Bradstreet. You can often find email addresses by guessing, as they typically are in the form '[email protected]'. Common alternatives include '[email protected]' and '[email protected]'. Look also for articles by and other information about the person you are investigating. You might even find their blog, from which much useful data can be gleaned. Avoid mass emailing - this is 'spam' and can get you and your company into trouble. A problem with any cold emailing is that your letter may not be read or even be removed by a spam filter. If possible, phone beforehand and follow up with email. Example If you look around this site, you will be able to find a lot of personal information about its author! (hint: look at the blog and at bottom of any page). Discussion These days the web is a primary place to find basic company information. With a little persistence and technique, you can find a lot more besides. It is surprising how often even relatively confidential information such as telephone numbers can be found. If you email a person and they reply (or even get an autoreply), the response may well include their job title and desk/cell phone numbers.

Clubs and societies

Description Find lists of local social organizations where people go to meet one another. Select those which seem to offer the best prospects. Go along and meet people. Join in the activities. Get to know the folks. Make friends. Enjoy the company. Get referrals. Sell quietly to them and their companies. And when you are no longer enjoying yourself and no longer doing business, leave and join another club. You can also do this with your children, talking with other parents. Of course you should only encourage your kids to join clubs for things they will enjoy! You may also be able to invite prospective customers to the club, which can provide a pleasant environment in which to get information and more from them. Example A salesperson who is interested in stamps joins a local philatelic club. His clear knowledge and interest leads to many friends being made, who also give him information to help him sell elsewhere. An insurance salesperson joins the local Round Table and quietly gets leads and referrals from other members. A real estate agent joins the local golf club and does much business out on the links. Discussion Clubs and societies are often either based around specific interests, such as model railways, or tend to have a class-based division. Thus, for example, there are many middle-class clubs. These societies often meet out of office hours and there will be a limited number you can practically join at one time, so do select those which seem most suitable. Also try to find ones you will enjoy! Note that if you are too overt about selling and getting information you can evoke a betrayal response, so do be subtle about this. It really helps if you join in whole-heartedly. If you just turn up occasionally and do not help out, you are more likely to be found out and ignored. Some of these societies are quite selective, such as the freemasons. However, when you have joined, they may also provide the best contacts. People in such organizations often seek to help one another in business as well as life. See also Trust

Conferences and Exhibitions

Description Go to the conferences and exhibitions where your potential customers go. Make presentations that will impress them with your products and services. Give out copies of your paper and other material. Hold 'clinics' where customers can come and discuss their difficulties and issues. Man the stands and talk to as many people as possible. and draw them into sufficient conversation to discover their potential as a customer or who they know. Give out your card, of course. Also get their cards. Example An industrial carpet company goes to an assortment of facilities management shows, doing demonstrations of their low-wear range and giving out samples. Their top salespeople not only man the stand - they also go around seeking customers from other stand-holders. A consultant regularly writes knowledgeable papers and presents them at a range of conferences. The conversations afterwards regularly lead to useful business for her or her associates. Discussion Conferences and exhibitions are attended by many like-minded people, often of management level and from similar industries. Not only attendees but also presenters may be met here. These events are thronged with people for a relatively short period. There is thus little time to sell, but there is huge potential to get leads and identify prospective customers.

The Elevator Pitch

Description Imagine you step into an elevator with the CEO from your company, or maybe the CEO of a customer company. What would you say? How could you describe yourself or what you are selling in the 30 to 60-second journey from the first to the tenth floor? This person does not know you or your products. They are not stupid but they also may not understand any jargon. Every word must count and every word must be understood. The whole must also be abundantly clear and motivate the CEO to help you in the way that you seek. You can do this with anyone. If you meet a stranger and they ask you what you do, you should be able to answer this question clearly and concisely. Discussion The principle of the 'elevator pitch' question is to get you to think about what you are seeking or selling, and summarize it clearly. Many people when challenged to do this are not very effective at the first go. Yet with support and challenge they can refine their pitch and communicate it well. They may also understand themselves better and so be more able to focus what they do. In the example, the CEO represents somebody important that you want to influence. You can substitute this person with anyone else, of course. A useful alternative exercise is to imagine a rich uncle has died and, instead of leaving you his money, he pre-spends it on a 60-second slot on prime-time television in which you have to sell yourself to the nation. What do you say? How could you create a long queue of people at your door wanting to hire you or buy from you? See also Sales

Orphans

Description Orphaned customers are those who have got part way through a sales cycle but for some reason have been abandoned. This can happen when other salespeople in your company are overloaded, go on holiday or leave the company. Standing by to catch the fallout can help both you and your company. You can also find orphans at exhibitions and conferences. Watch for people looking a bit lost or expectant. Example A sales person in a company goes on maternity leave. Another sales person catches her before she leaves and gets her list of leads to follow up on. A sales person finds out that a competitor's sales person is going on holiday for a month. Whilst the other sales person is away, the first sales person calls on a number of the common customers. Discussion Customers are used to attention, especially when they are thinking about buying. If they are 'abandoned' by one sales person, they may feel rejected and losing esteem. When another sales person comes along and 'rescues' them, their gratitude to that sales person may oblige them to give a consideration to what that sales person has to say above and beyond what they might normally give.

Cold Calling

Description The cold canvas method is the simplest, oldest and most ineffective method there is. It relies solely on finding and talking to people who you have no idea whether or not will buy from you. Be personal (but not too personal) Acknowledge that they are human and also show that you are human too. Use their name, but not too much. Tell them your name. Reveal a little about yourself, but again not too much. Be respectful As well as being personal, always show respect to the person. You have entered their territory uninvited and must show that you are worthy of their time. Go for yes As with the Yes-set Close, getting agreement sets a pattern whereby they are more likely to agree. Ask them questions with which they can only agree. Ask for time If you ask them for a few minutes and they say yes, they will feel obliged to give you that time. Do stick to the time too. Get to benefits quickly After getting early permission to talk (or maybe before), you need to sustain their attention by creating an interest, which often means addressing the 'what's in it for me' question by telling them something of the benefits they can gain from conversing with you further. Wonder It's a powerful little thing, to wonder something aloud. Just try wondering if they will do what you want them to do. When you wonder if they will do something, you are suggesting that they do it without commanding directly. Get to base 2 Success in cold calling often means getting permission to continue the conversation at a future time. It may be that you send them some information, but much better than this is for you to call or visit at a future date and time. Make them feel good Whether you succeed or not in moving the to the next base, do try to make them feel good. Thank them. Tell them they sound or look good. Be impressed with them and what they do. Even if they reject you (and especially if they reject you) leave them on a positive note. Example Is that Mr. Elwyn Jones? ... You are the IT Director? ... Good, good. Mr. Jones, I wonder if you can give me two minutes in which I can show you something that will save you days. Ms Bleddyn, are you busy today? .. Would you like more time? ... you know I work with busy people to give them more time. Well, thank you anyway, Mr. Evans. You're doing important work there and I wish you well. Discussion Cold calling is probably one of the most frustrating and unrewarding jobs, as you may have to deal with hundreds of rejections -- and some of these may be quite unpleasant. Attributes of successful cold-callers include robust optimism, strong self-belief and a resilience that lets you bounce back fresh every time. People who are called cold may be annoyed at this and project their anger onto you. To justify their feelings, they may well frame you as a bad person and act accordingly. You can use this by being unremittingly nice. This may lead to them feeling guilty about their unpleasantness and hence relenting and listening to you. Asking people for something whereby they agree, for example for a little of their time, makes it difficult for them to pull out. This is due to the consistency principle, where people seek to align what they say with with what they do. Note that if you ask for or take too much, you may get a betrayal response as they feel that you are taking advantage of them. Leaving them on a positive note can create remarkable turnarounds. They typically will feel a little guilty about rejecting you and expect some coldness in return. But if you reply with warmth, it can cause a last-minute reprieve or a later call-back as they change their mind about you. The cold call is also known as a cold canvas. See also Consistency principle The language of love, learning and cold calling

Prospecting clubs

Description Work together with other sales people to share the burden of prospecting. You can even do this with sales people from other companies where they are selling complementary products. You can either work very closely together on a daily basis or meet up every now and again to discuss how the business and general prospecting is going. As well as sharing leads, also share methods and ways of converting prospects into customers. Help each other succeed. Example A group of sales people from different industries who all work in the same city meet up monthly in bar to share problems, ideas and leads. A sales manager encourages regional sales teams to share in prospecting work rather than all work independently, jealously guarding their own customers but perhaps at the expense of the company's real goals. Discussion Prospecting clubs work when they use the principle of 'expanding the pie'. Sales people can have a mentality of a zero-sum, fixed pie, assuming that if they help other sales people they are somehow losing out themselves, at least in the time 'wasted' in this activity. If, however, sales people share openly, then leads and prospects that might otherwise go to waste can be of benefit to them, at least sometimes. Sharing methods can also have lasting benefit, perhaps saving time in every call or making calls more effective. See also Trust, Exchange principle

Your website

Description You can use your company website as an automated prospecting tool. Here are a number of things you can do: Generally make the site attractive and easy to use. Put your full product catalog online. Also let them download a .pdf and order a paper copy. Make sure there is a 'contact' link on every page. Allow them to make both free-text queries and guiding them through a product tree. Add 'call me' links, whereby they enter their phone number and you call them back. Do this as quickly as possible. Use cookies so you can track the person and offer customized information. Use analytics programs to give more sophisticated analysis of overall customer activity around your site. Also differentiate between websites that are designed to sell online and those which are designed to create leads and find prospects. If you want the latter, then design your site to achieve this, not the former. If necessary, set up a separate site or subsite designed for professional buyers. Example Discussion Websites such as Amazon are benchmarks for personalization as they not only remember your name but where you have gone on the site. Usability of sites is very important. People will start abandoning the site if they cannot find what they want within three clicks. The further information is down a page, the less likely it is that they will read it (and especially if they have to start scrolling for something that is not visible). You may have noticed that websites are replacing sales people! Whilst this is an unstoppable force and companies that fight it may go out of business, there are also many companies where a direct sales force is still very important. See also Notes for webmasters and others

Dealing with No

One of the hardest things for a sales person to deal with is a flat refusal, which is perhaps why cold calling is one of the most disliked activities. If, however, you can turn a refusal into an interesting and valuable experience, then your job can become much more interesting! Don't take it personally It's easy to take a rejection of a product or sales call as a rejection of you, personally. It seems as if the people don't like you in some way, or that you have personally failed somehow. If you take this position, you are going to be a very sad person. Sales is full of rejections. You need at least to learn to put failures behind you. Look forward. There are many more people out there who are desperate for what you are selling. Be objective. Separate the problem from the person, just as you might when you are selling. In fact you can sell to yourself the benefits of (this time) not completing the sale. Leave the door open Thank the person, whatever they say. Thank them for their time and for listening. Appreciate their situation and why they are not ready to take things further today (note the assumption that they may be ready another day). Never take revenge, even with little snide remarks, because that will mean that at minimum they will never buy from you or your company again and maybe they will take revenge on your revenge, such as calling your boss or complaining about aggravation. Learn from it Take the opportunity to learn from what happened. Think about the conversation, what was said and how it flowed. Think about the body language and voice tone. Were there any key moments when things went awry? How might it have been different? How might another person act and talk, perhaps a sales person you admire? Be open and honest (but not berating) with yourself. Do you have any deep needs or limiting beliefs that are getting in the way? Are there any preferences that you have that are making you miss things? Are you trapped in any dysfunctional games that are preventing you from selling more often? After telling them that you accept they are not ready now, you may also ask them for feedback on how you performed as a sales person and how you can be more effective. This can be effective sometimes are re-opening the door as they realize that you are a concerned person. See also Objectivity principle, Games, Needs, Preferences

Getting Referrals

One of the most difficult parts of selling is prospecting, or getting new customers. By far the most powerful thing you can have when approaching new people is a referral from their colleagues, friends or others they respect. The big question that comes before using referrals is getting the referrals in the first place. When and why it works Getting referrals can be gained any time: after you are turned away, after closing the deal, after great service or just any time! After refusal After you have been turned away or not made the sale is a great time to ask for a referral. But why should a person give you a referral when they could easily just blow you off? The basic answer is that it gives them an opportunity for absolution from the sin of saying no. There is a basic social moral that says 'help others', which makes people want to be nice. We generally dislike refusing and turning away other people, so when we say no, we are more likely to agree to give a referral to the sales person. The basic exchange is thus they give you referrals in exchange for your forgiveness for them not being able to spend more time with you or buy your products and services. After the close After people have bought from you, they are feeling the post-close warmth and are thus more ready to help you. This also helps them justify to themselves why they signed the deal ('It's such a great bargain, I should let others into the secret'). If you have made concessions during the negotiation, then they may feel further obliged to offer you a referral in compensation. After great service If you sell someone a great product or give them great service, particularly if you have just put yourself 'above and beyond' expectations, to help them, then they will be ready to help you in return by giving you a good referral. Any other time People will give you referrals when you meet in the bar, on the bus or any time you can speak with them. You are paying them attention, helping them feel good. In return, they may give you a great referral. Avoiding the referral traps There are several traps in seeking referrals that can lead to you being given the wrong person or no person at all. Asking incorrectly may dissuade the other person from giving you names of other people. If they are not interested in you or what you have to sell, then they may well be unwilling to foist you on their friends. Do remember that by giving a referral, they are putting their necks on the line. If you annoy the referred person, then that person will likely complain to the referrer. Worse than giving you no referrals is fobbing you off with a worthless referral, thus wasting your time further. The 'anyone' trap Asking 'Is there anyone else...' is first a closed question to which it is easy to say 'no'. Also when you ask 'anyone' it does not really help the other person to think about specific people you can call. Always ask for a specific 'who', not a general and vague 'anyone' or 'someone'. The 'wants product' trap Asking for who 'may want the product' may result in the other person trying to think of somebody who has been asking for a product or service like yours. And of course there will be very few or none of these. The trick to get around this is to ask for who has the type of problems that your product or service resolves. The other person is much more likely to know this. Who do you know who is having product reliability problems? Can you tell me who here is having issues computer support issues? Building it in The key to real success in referrals is to build requesting referrals right into your sales process. Ask regularly Asking for referrals occasionally will get you only limited referrals. You can get many more valuable referrals by doing it regularly. Put it on the form If you use a sales call form (paper or electronic), filling in details of each sales visit or call, then include a section of the form that has fields for referral details. Get full detail Do make sure you get full details. This includes the name of the person, contact information for them, their job title, the relationship with the referrer and further information about their situation. Think creatively Look beyond your normal customers. Find partners in getting referrals. Be creative! Here are a few ideas: Make calls solely for the purpose of seeking referrals. Go to conferences and exchange business cards. Call up people who supply complementary products to yours. Partner with them, giving them referrals in return. Get referrals from sponsorship deals. You sponsor a charity event and they give your referrals in return. Talk to people who talk to people, like reception staff, secretaries, hairdressers, etc. Get back to people after the visit to say thank you. And to ask for referrals. See also Using Referrals

The successful prospector

Prospecting is not always an easy job and successful prospectors are worth their weight in gold (and should earn it too). Optimism Two of the most important attributes of sales person who is prospecting, and in particular cold calling, are optimism and resilience. You have to keep on believing you will find a customer whilst receiving seemingly endless rejections (some of which may not be very pleasant). An attitude of liking people also helps. When you talk with another person you quickly pick up on whether they like you or are treating you as just another person -- and you are much more likely to do business with those who like you. Instinct The successful prospector, like the seeker after gold, develops a 'nose' for where gold might lie and instincts when talking to people that tell them whether or not the person is likely to buy. Persistence And the successful prospector digs a lot of holes, and digs them quickly. If you have the basics, prospecting is often just a numbers game. Also when you are talking to someone who seems disinterested, the longer you keep talking with them, they more likely you are to convert them. Whilst it is important to qualify out those who are unlikely to buy, you may also be able to persuade those who are uncertain to take the next step. This is a riskier move as many who are convinced now may regress later, but depending on your sales situation just speaking to a person may be a significant gain, in which case a longer discussion is usually desirable. Process Prospecting is not just a matter of writing and calling. It involves a repeatable and well-proven methodology. Sales people who get the structure and process right are more likely to succeed. This includes gathering and managing data, and wording of letters, emails and phone calls.

Using Referrals

Referrals from other people are silver bullets: they are very powerful but you can only fire them once. More research The referral is going to open a door for you. It would be a shame to waste it through lack of sufficient knowledge. Take the necessary time to research further into the person, the problem, the department, the company and its operational environment such that you are ready to take full advantage of the situation. The opening pitch The most important part of using referrals, as with any meeting, is the first few words that you use, which makes it very important to get them right. Here is a way of doing this: Hello Mr Jones. My name is Jeff Wooldrich and Jennifer Aniston suggested that I call you. Can I take five minutes to explain why? Good morning Ms. Eleman. My name is Sarah Parker and Mike Williams told me you are currently looking for a new turret dryer system. I may be able to help you with this -- is it ok now to take a few minutes to discuss this? Notice that there are three parts to this: A basic greeting The referral A reason to continue The greeting is a fairly standard and formal introduction that sets the standard and expectations of a polite conversation. The referral acts as a bridge, linking to the real request. The reason to continue extends this. In effect, the referring person's name buys you a bit more space in which to hook the customer. If they cannot be caught in this extra time then you have probably lost this particular fish. The continuation After getting permission to continue, you may be able to leverage the referring person again by talking about the benefits that they gained from working with you. Explain why you have been referred to the person and check that your understanding of the situation is correct. I was able to help Jennifer get a substantially increased contract protection and I understand that you may be looking for similar benefits. Is this true? If they agree with your description, then continue as a normal sales call. If they disagree, ask them why you were referred to them. Hmm. Looks like I haven't quite got my facts right. I wonder why Jennifer gave me your name. This may give you a further lead or may lead you to qualify out the person. If you get no joy with them, you can, of course, ask them for a further referral. A further point that is often useful to remember is to keep the person who gave you the referral in the loop. When the referred person knows this they will trust you more. The referrer will also appreciate knowing what happened and may give you more referrals as a result! See also Getting Referrals

Prospecting is...

The Prospect is... A 'prospect' is short for a 'prospective customer'. It is a person or company who may buy from you. A prospect is more than a lead A 'lead' is information about a person or company who may become a prospect. Thus a friend might give you the number of an acquaintance who might benefit from what you have to sell. A prospect is a person Many people find the term 'prospect' a bit insulting, as it reduces a person to an object. Always remember that leads and prospects are people, with feelings and lives like yours. They struggle, succeed and fail. They are not a number and not a thing. Prospecting is... Prospecting is searching for prospects. Just as a person searching for gold is a 'prospector', so also is a salesperson searching for customers. ...necessary Prospecting is a necessary task for many sales people who need to replace customers who do not return and find new customers to grow and sustain the business. ...difficult Prospecting is also difficult. Someone once said 'you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince' -- and in prospecting, you often have to talk to a lot of people before you find a customer who will buy from you. See also Objectification

Fish where the fish are

The drunk and the key There is an old story about a drunk who is on his hands and knees under a street lamp, patting the ground and diligently searching here and there. A policeman comes up and ask him what the matter is. The drunk says that he has lost the key for his house. The policeman, having a quiet night, decides to be friendly and joins in looking for the keys. Before long some other people come along and join in too, much to the gratitude of the drunk. After a while, someone notes that there is limited space here and surely the key would have been found by now. "Where did you lose the key?" she asks the drunk. "Over there" says the drunk, pointing down the road. "So why are we looking here?" asks the policeman, as the other people also stop looking and exasperatedly look at the drunk. "Because it's dark over there!" says the drunk. Fish where the fish are We are often like the drunk. We look for customers in places where we are more comfortable, and in so doing miss out on many possible leads and sales. Sales leads and prospects are found all over the place, and not just where you think they should be or where they were last time you looked. A common trap is to fish in the same pond until it is pretty much fished out. Yet we still sit there with our rod, perhaps sighing about the good old days. To fish in the ocean you need a good sonar and real intelligence. So get out there and find customers wherever they might be. Look in strange places and think about people who might not be customers now but could be.

Three customer types

There are three needs in customers that sales people seek when prospecting. This leads to three types of customer that need different approaches. Three factors Although prospective customers have many different needs, there are three factors that the sales person wants to know. Know problem The customer may or may not know that they have a problem that they need to solve. The sales person needs to know so that the potential to make a sale that solve the problem is identified. Motivated to solve the problem When the customer knows that they have a problem, they must be motivated to solve it. If they see it as unimportant or not worth spending time and money on it, then the sales person has an uphill job. Know what's needed to solve the problem The customer may also know what they need in order to solve the problem. This can be good news for the sales person. It can also be problematic. The knowing customer The knowing customer understands the problem, wants to solve it and knows what they need. They approach the sales person with the question 'I need an X, do you have one?' If the sales person has what is wanted, the sale is easy and quicker than the qualification, which may be minimal (and particularly when the customer makes the first approach). This can be problematic if the sales person does not have what is wanted. They may need to question the customer to understand the problem and might offer an alternative solution, although this requires convincing the customer that what is being sold is better than what the customer initially asked for. This is a common situation in selling. The solution seeker The solution-seeking customer knows that they have a problem and are motivated to solve it, but do not know the solution. They approach the sales person with a 'Help me' request. In many ways this is the ideal customer as the sales person is cast as a rescuer who helps the customer solve the problem and makes a sale in the process. The trick in qualification is to quickly find out whether the products being sold actually can solve the problem. The clueless customer Finally is a customer who many sales people avoid as they often require more selling. These prospective customers do not know they have a problem or are not motivated to solve it. They thus repel initial advances by the salesperson. The dilemma for the sales person is that there are many prospective customers in this class, which is good, but the work needed to sell to them is significant, which is bad. This leads to two types of selling that requires quite different attitudes. Two types of selling The points above lead to two types of selling, rooted either in the carrot or the stick. Problem-solving The first type of selling seeks the easier sell. Significant prospecting is done in order to qualify out the clueless. A few early questions are used to decide this before spending more time with the customer. The focus of this style of selling is thus on solving the agreed problem with the products the sales person has. It spends more time in creating pull for the carrot of the product. Problem-creating The second type of selling qualifies out far fewer and is more common when getting to prospective customers is difficult or where relatively few customers know they have a problem. This type of selling expects to start with convincing customers that they have a problem and this is thus a 'problem-creating' sales style in that the major breakthrough happens when the customer realizes that they have a problem. Although it may use later pull, it starts more with a push as it focuses on creating the discomfort of realizing the problem. See also Push principle, Principle of pull

The cold call sequence

This is a sequence of steps you can use when you are calling a prospective customer for the very first time. Get their attention Say something that get their attention. This may be something simple. Good morning Mr. Williams. Do not use gimmick openers. These are pretty well-known these days and are more likely to be experienced as an insult to their intelligence. Mr. X. If I told you a way to halve your tax and double your income, would you be interested? Identify yourself They will want to know who you are, so quickly and simply introduce yourself and your company. My name is Peter Jones from Carlsbridge Associates, the largest executive placement firm in the city. Do not try to gain credibility by telling them how wonderful you are. This will only lose, not gain, respect. My name is Peter Jones, six-times consultant-of-the-month from Carlsbridge Associates. Tell them why you're calling Give them good reason to continue to converse with you by explaining clearly why you are calling. The demand for top executives in the city has doubled in the past year and I'm calling to find out if you have been affected. Again beware of falling into a promotional pitch that turns them off rather than gets them excited. We can solve all of your executive problems with our superior portfolio of services, from assessment to sourcing and in-place coaching. Qualify them Before you move on, you need to know whether it is worth your spending more time with them. You thus need to do an initial qualification. Whilst you may well do further qualification at a later date, a quick qualification now will sort out those who you have no hope of selling to. Can I ask if you may be seeking good executives this year? Move to the next steps If they are qualified out by their response, thank them and hang up. If, however, they are still prospects, then move them to the next step. Could we continue this conversation in person? Perhaps I could take you out to lunch next week some time? See also Cold Calling, Verifying the person

Verifying the person

When you phone a person in cold-call sales or prospecting, the first thing you probably want to know is that they are the person that you expect. Verifying the person both ensures your assumptions are correct about who you are speaking with. Verifying the person is likely to be your first words to them, and it is well known that impressions are formed in the first few seconds, so it is critical to get this right. Verifying their name Unless you have been passed to the person by someone else (and maybe even then), it can be helpful to verify the name of the person on the other end of the phone. Even in this short task, your words can make a difference. Consider the following few sentences. Is that Mr. Jones? This uses a formal address of 'Mr. Jones', which is often a good start. Do not use informal names until somewhat later. However, it is also rather short and peremptory statement. It may be sufficient but may also be felt as being rather curt. Am I speaking to Mr. Jones? This is more conversational and slightly longer, which gives you more opportunity to convey what a nice person you are through the varying tone of your voice. It however still misses a couple of tricks. Am I talking with Mr. Harry Jones? Here you are using their first name, with which they have strong identity attachment, yet this is within a formal frame and so should not offend. Note also the difference between 'speaking to' in the previous quote and 'talking with' in this one. 'Speaking to' is a unidirectional action, with you projecting words at the other person. 'Talking with' has a more conversational element and implies that they are going to respond. This simple change can make the world of difference. Verifying their position You may also want to verify their formal position or job. This is an important qualification, as it tells you if this person is the right person. By speaking it, you also remind them of their job, which may include listening to people like you. In this, you can use their job title or their role. Let's look at a few examples. Are you the Marketing Manager of Alpha Soups? This tests both their role and where they work and continues getting a 'yes', building their yes-set. Linking the two reminds them of their responsibility to the company. You are the Marketing Manager of Alpha Soups? This is a minor change but can have a significant effect. Saying 'you are' rather than 'are you' is a more assertive frame, but framed as a question it is usually acceptable. Nevertheless, by agreeing with you, they are putting themselves in a position where they are accepting your assertions and thus will more likely repeat this pattern in the future. What is not covered, however, is what the marketing manager actually does. Can I ask if you control placing of newspaper and visual media advertisements? This focuses on what they do rather than the name of their job, which is perhaps more important for you. It also uses the cover of an easy 'can I ask' to probe for the detail you really want.