Phone Prospecting 2

Yesterday morning, I featured some tips from Art Sobczak. Today we have Larry Prevost:

6 Phone Prospecting Phrases That Could Be Costing You a Fortune

By Larry Prevost

He was the vice president of an architectural firm that I called once a week for six months. I always managed to either get his voicemail or his administrative assistant. When I reached the assistant, she was cordial and polite when she took my information and told me that she would relay my message. But on this fateful day in August when I called, she let me in on a little secret.

"Mr. Prevost, he really doesn't want to talk with you, ever."

It's extremely disheartening to get this kind of response.

What do you say to something like this?

One of the challenges with prospecting on the phone is knowing what to say to a prospect when you get them on the phone, or what kind of message to leave when you get their voicemail.

Knowing absolutely nothing about them or their business only exacerbates the challenge.

If you find that you are light on details about your prospect and you are like most sales people, then you probably start talking about the things that you are very familiar with--like yourself, your company, and your products.

Which is exactly what I did for six months and why it ended the way it did.

What can you do to head off events like this?

If you are getting responses like this from your prospects, or they are responding with statements like "We don't have any money" or "We aren't interested", then it's a sign that you're not focusing on their interests during the opening stages of the call. You need to take another look at your sales process and rethink your calling strategy.

We've touched on some of this in the past. Your biggest asset in overcoming these initial challenges is gathering knowledge about your prospect and their problems. Once you know something about your prospect and what they are facing, you can use your language to redirect the conversation to address their wants and needs.

However, once you've made the transition from focusing on yourself to focusing on their challenges, there's something else to keep in mind. Words do have power.

We use words all of the time to help guide our audience's mental awareness. And when we are using the phone, words are all that we have.

So if you have started focusing more on your client's needs, there are some words and phrases that can mean the difference between success and failure. And as sales people, we really need to make our words count towards the end goal.

Here are several words and phrases to take notice of when you are conducting your lead generation calls over the phone. It's possible that they may be impeding your ability to move the sale forward.

1. Just. We looked at the effect of using the word "just" in our initial conversations and in our voicemails in a previous tip (Increase Your Ability To Capture Your Prospect's Attention By Removing This One Word). Whenever we use the word "just," we are lowering the value of our offer when compared to whatever is occupying their attention at that moment. When I call "Bob" and say, "Bob. It's just Larry Prevost." I have effectively said that I'm second to whatever he has going on at the moment. And in sales, you don't have to be "last" to be considered last.

You and your product will be last if you are second to everything else that is on your prospect's plate. And using the word "just" places you second to whatever is happening in Bob's mind at the time. When you call your prospect, tell them why you are calling, but don't reduce the value of your insights, information or products with the word "just." Take the word "just" out of your initial conversations and your voicemails.

2. I would like to. This is a phrase that essentially asks for permission. It's been drilled into us since we were children and we've been taught that it's essential to getting along with people and for good manners. The phrase becomes a challenge when we use it habitually in our business conversations. When you get your prospect on the phone and they happen to be a director, vice president, or chief officer, you want to keep the conversation on their level. Whenever I used a phrase like, "I would like to set an appointment with you to ask a few questions..." they would politely set the time, but something would always come up causing them to miss the meeting and the project would be put on indefinite hold.

Instead of using the phrase "I would like to..." try something like, "We typically sit down with our clients for a brief consultation to verify that this is a good fit. I currently have 2:30 and 4:00 open next Wednesday. Which works for you?" In this instance, you've simply stated your process and revealed which time slots you have available. Stop asking for permission. Take out the "I would like to..."

3. I want to. This phrase essentially tells the prospect that you are focusing on you. And what you want is more important than what they want. Remember that you called them and you are discussing the benefits of your solution to them so that they will buy. When you call into your prospect and start making demands based around what you want, their mindset turns back to their problems and their needs. Your prospect really doesn't care what you want and they don't want to hear about your demands. So when you call them, don't talk about what you want, and refrain from saying anything with, "I want to..." in it.

4. Minute of time. One thing I'm a big advocate of is asking for time in some fashion. It's a way of verifying that they aren't currently engaged in some other activity, such as a meeting. If you do any kind of lead generation on the phone, you will catch prospects at off moments. I've pulled sales managers out of sales meetings, interrupted operations managers during performance reviews, caught directors as they were leaving for the hospital, and I've phoned people who were on vacation. Guess what? If you make a lot of dials, it will happen to you as well. When you manage to get someone on the phone, you want to verify that it's a good time for them to talk.

Here's the catch: When asking for their time, ask for a moment instead of a minute. A minute has a well-defined length so when you ask if they have a minute, you will get 60 seconds. A "moment," however, is an undefined span of time. So when you ask, "Do you have a moment?" you will typically get as much time as you need to build your case. As usual, keep your conversation to one subject and keep it brief. A moment of time is not a license to "move in.

5. Asking for an appointment. Research has shown that when sales people used the word "meeting," they were 30% more effective in securing time with their prospects. Doctors, lawyers and dentists set appointments with their clients, and that usually involves the client parting ways with a sizeable chunk of money and receiving some amount of pain in return. As sales people, we solve problems. We want to sit down with our clients and consult with them on solutions. When you call your prospect, don't ask for the appointment; go for the meeting.

6. May I please speak with...? This is another one of those opening phrases that we were taught when we were young. It shows good manners and politeness. It's also structured as a "yes/'no" question and once again, you are asking for permission. In today's business environment, when you finally make it through the VoIP switchboard, you will either be connected to the person you are trying to get to, their voicemail, or their administrative assistants, who is going to grill you like a hot dog at a cookout. If you make it to the administrative assistant, one way to avoid getting the third degree is to not use the phrase, "May I please speak with..."

Instead, take a lesson from your face-to-face meetings. Think about the last time that you had an onsite meeting with a prospect. You walked up to the reception desk or the security desk and you said, "I'm here to see Victoria VITO. Could you let her know I'm here?" And the person at the desk said, "Who should I say is calling?" And you said, "Bob Solution Provider. I'll be over here by the window, thank you." Simply do the same over the phone.

When you call in and you get a live person that is not the person you are trying to reach, simply say, "I'm calling for Victoria VITO. Could you let her know I'm on the line? Thank you." They will typically say, "Who's calling?" to which you will reply, "Bob Solution Provider from ABC Corp. Thank you." Remember that this is not a social call. You are calling to conduct business. Take out the "May I please speak with..." phrase from your opening line and speak from a position of power and knowledge.

Times Have Changed

Remember that many of the phrases and words that we use over the phone today were developed, tested and used by sales people at a time when homes had at most two phones from Ma Bell and companies had real live people at the switchboards.

Times have changed considerably. Today, we have to deal with VoIP switchboards that can automatically route calls based on the phone number of the caller, business contacts with smart phones attached to both hips and voicemail systems that are used as the ultimate call screener. You'll have to change up your language to leverage the freedoms and capabilities that this new technology has provided our society. And it's only going to get more interesting.

So in addressing these challenges of getting through to the decision-maker and making a good first impression, first make sure that you know something about the business that your prospect is in. Then, you can review the words that you are using in your business language and start updating them accordingly. By doing so, you will increase your effectiveness over the phone and get more prospects into your sales pipeline.

About the Author: Larry Prevost is an instructor and an IT consultant for Dale Carnegie Training of Ohio and Indiana.

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