The assumption made by nearly all sales trainers, is that the sales rep
is already speaking with the person who has the authority to evaluate
and/or buy. This is a tremendous mistake. The first thing on your
agenda when you cold call should be to find the right person who has
the authority to evaluate and buy your solution. Don't waste your
valuable selling time speaking with the wrong people who have no
authority to buy.
Starting at the top of an organization, continually ask who is
responsible for your solution until you reach the right person or their
office. There is a catch though.
If you ask to complex a question such as, Who is responsible for
application integration? of an assistant in a non technology
department, the odds are they will not be able to help you. This leaves
both you and them frustrated.
If possible ask questions you know people will know the answers too.
People like to help other people. It puts them on the defensive when
they cannot answer your questions. As you move down deeper into
the department responsible for evaluating and acquiring your
solution, then you can begin to ask more technical questions.
Ask questions such as Who is responsible for technology or
computers? Simplify your questions to ones people can answer. Ask
for names, titles, extensions, etc. These are questions people known
the answers to or can easily find them. Simple, short direct questions
work best.
Who is responsible for...?
What is their exact title?
In case we get disconnected, what is their extension?
An excellent way to ask for an email is to ask this question. "If I
wanted to send them an email, what address would I use?" Of course
some will say we don't give out emails but many, especially in the
higher offices will immediately provide you with an email address. A
well worded email sent to a high level officer will often get pushed
down and you will get a response..
Even though you may know the naming convention, don't send email
to someone who you have not been given an email address by
someone in their company. This is SPAM and is against the law to
send an unsolicited email.
Take a few minutes to find someone in the company who will provide
you with an email address. You can refer to this person in your email
and the recipient will know that you were given permission to send it.
Often you can explain to an assistant or associate that you are trying
to get in touch with someone and you left them a voice mail and
would like to follow it up with an email. Most people, who
understand how difficult it can be to reach someone nowadays, will
provide you with an email so you can follow up.
It is crucial that you get accurate answers to your questions. If you
hear different answers from different people, get what is called a
double confirm. Find a third person to confirm which of the two
answers is actually correct.
If you send me correspondence to Ron Levine, it will go right into the
trash. If you can't get my name right, how will you act should I
choose to do business with you. People define themselves by their
name. Accuracy counts in business since you don't often get second
chances.
Even a simple name like Smith can be spelled Smyth or Johnson
could be spelled Johnsen. Don't make assumptions. Ask that every
name be spelled out for you even if it is a simple name. Also don't
forget to ask if they are a he or a she. Names like Chris, Terry, Pat
even Leslie can be one gender or the other.
In summary, don't assume you are speaking with the right person
until you confirm it is so. If people give you different answers find
someone to confirm which one is true. When calling into a non
technical department, ask simple direct questions that you know
people will be able to answer. Be sure to get accurate answers and
confirm the gender of the person you will be communicating with.
Follow these simple rules and you will be more successful when cold
calling.
