How to avoid the mail-out paper war

Has this ever happened to you? You’re on a cold call (usually) and have reached your decision maker. As you launch into your introduction your prospect interrupts with:

                         I’ll just stop you there. I’m far too busy to talk at the moment, 

                        can you send something by (e)mail please?

Many prospects use this early in your presentation to try to get rid of you. It is often a conditioned response. It worked on the last 20 telemarketers, will it work on you? 

I often see salespeople rushing to send out mail after a request like this and calling back several times to ask the prospect if they have read it yet. 

Inevitably, the prospect hasn’t looked at it. Why should they? There was no call to action, no presentation to create interest and no identified need. The paperwork is now in the prospect’s delete box or filed in the executive waste basket. 

Sometimes busy prospects are just that – genuinely busy. They might be a good prospect at a less hurried time, so you don’t want to close the door on them. Neither do you want to get caught in the dreaded paper war where you keep re-calling until they just say “no” anyway.

However, as well as identifying good but busy prospects, it’s also useful to weed out the time-wasters and non-buyers who use this objection / statement just to get you off the phone.

The best way to handle this situation and find the good but busy prospect is to stick to the golden rule: try to send out information only when you’ve made a full phone presentation first. You see, only by listening to your call can a prospect make an informed decision about your product or service and what might be best for their business. 

Try this next time you get an information request that pops up right at your introduction:

I understand (prospect’s name) … and it’s my pleasure to get some quality information off to you today that you might find useful and… may even save you and your company money ...

I want to make sure I send you the right information through that suits your business needs and your situation … so ...

I'd just like to chat with you on the phone for about four minutes first ... If I called back around 3pm today … would you be able to talk to me for around four minutes then?

You can adapt this style to any service, product or type of call. But you can expect to receive more “No’s” when you use this technique because you will flush out most time-wasters. However, those prospects who are genuinely busy will often agree to a call-back at the time you suggested.

Sometimes they will offer a different time for you to call. Genuine prospects appreciate your consideration and you’ve also said you’re NOT going to bang on for half an hour. You’re going to identify their needs and then send them out information. After all, isn’t that what they just asked you for?

I can guarantee you will be astonished in the change of attitude from many prospects when you call them back. Many times you will be able to either confirm an appointment or register a sale at the conclusion of your call.

It stands to reason that genuine prospects will agree to a re-call and, once you have been able to make a full presentation, any reasonable request for information must be GENUINE interest – otherwise why would they ask?

Please Leave a Message

How to get people to leave messages on your answer phone.

Lots of companies and field sales reps tell me a high number of callers hang up when they reach an answer phone. Getting callers to leave a message for you makes a huge difference to how you plan your day or week, how you manage your business-by-phone and your sales potential and revenue. But persuading people to leave messages on your answer phone can be tricky.

Before I offer a proven message for you to try, let me explain a little how callers feel when they hear an answer phone message on a business line that may go like this:

“You’ve reached the answer phone of Spanners Limited.”

Does a caller want to hear they’ve reached an answer phone? No. 40% of hang-ups occur right there.

They go on:

“Sorry, but were busy at the moment” or “All our operators are busy” or “Sorry we can’t take your call right now”.

Callers are busy too and they don’t care if you are or not. Plus, once they hear you can’t take their call another 40% of hang-uppers do just that – hang up! The fact you’re sorry about it means little to them except you’re apologising so it must be your fault. So far the message has all been about your problems but nothing that the caller wants to hear. It may go on:

“Please leave a detailed message along with your name and phone number after the tone and we’ll call you back as soon as we can...”

If, and it is a big if, the caller is still there, many won’t leave a message anyway. Most people in business don’t need to be told what message to leave or to do so after the tone. Is it any wonder that hang-ups occur?

Here’s a message that works well that you could adapt. While nothing is guaranteed 100% of the time, try this and measure the number of messages left over a month.

“Hello ... this is the phone for Matthew Mewse, The Telephone Man.”

First up, this is the phone; you’re in the right place! You called the right number!

“I’m really glad you called me today…”

It’s personal; glad is an emotion, a feeling. People have feelings, answer phones don’t! I’m glad you rang me and that you did today. How many answer phone messages say that?

“Please leave me a quick message and I’ll get right back to you.”

Notice there’s no mention of “I’m too busy for you” or “Sorry” or “After the beep”.

Before they know it, the caller has the opportunity to speak and leave a message. What kind? A quick one because that’s what we asked for. Also, I, me, the guy they were trying to speak to is communicating in the first person and making a commitment to call back.

There’s not one negative word or long, drawn-out sentence in this message so the caller gets to the tone very quickly. Many answer phone dodgers now find they are speaking down the line, saying who they are, where they’re from and the reason for their call. Simple and it works!