The value of calling past associates: why not call one this week?
Posted by Geoff Alexander on Mon, Nov 22, 2010 @ 10:02 AM
Next week, I’ll blog on some techniques for closing business at year-end, but today, I’ve got another thought, and it’s about the value of calling an old customer you liked, maybe even one that isn’t necessarily a good fit for what you’re selling today. There are two stories I’d like to share with you. There’s an upbeat end to this post, so do read on.
In many of my inside sales training classes, I tell the story of a memorable woman that was in one of my classes. She wasn’t just a bit older than everyone else, she was waay older. Her name was Mary Hillencamp. I always begin my classes by asking people what their passion in life is, and it can’t be a person. Mary’s was flying, and she flew the Stearman aircraft. If you’ve ever been to an air show, you’ve probably seen one, as they’re noted for being exceptional stunt planes. Many weekends, Mary would just hop in the plane, pilot it around for a few hours, and have loads of fun. She was the most energetic person in the room, and was great on the phone during our coaching calls, too. She was 64 years old at the time, and one of the best at outbound calling I’d ever seen. And I use her as an example of why age has little to do with success in inside sales. I found out this week that she passed away a while back, and I told her husband that she lives on, in just about every class I do.
I also found out that an old friend, Dave Barbour, passed away this week. Or rather, I discovered this week that Dave passed away in 1999. In addition to Dave being a pal, he was one of the reasons I stayed away from telephone sales early on, because Dave was running a telemarketing “boiler room” when I met him, and the whole thing sounded horrible. I believe he was calling his company Santa Clara County Law Enforcement, and his company called on folks during dinner to sell them on making donations that would be used to send disabled children to the circus. Of course, Dave was unaffiliated with any law enforcement agency, which is what got him into trouble.
In those days, when I was barely out of my teens, I was running a retail establishment, namely a record store, and I met Dave because he was a customer. He and I talked a lot about the concept of selling, I doing face-to-face retailing, and he selling on the phone. He always carried a bunch of “miracle fish,” little Chinese cellophane fish that would curl up when placed in your palm. Depending on how they curled, they’d represent a different fortune. That was Dave’s in-person ice breaker: “Ever had your fortune told by a miracle fish?” Corny, and it worked. Constantly.
Dave thought I could make a lot of money by joining the boiler room team, but the concept of calling people at home abhorred me, and I certainly wouldn’t use the term “law enforcement” when I wasn’t a cop. We stayed friends, and several years later, having taken his operation to another county, he was busted. But Dave and I stayed in touch. Yes, he was running on the edge of legality and got caught. But a lot of kids got to go to the circus, too.
Dave eventually straightened out, met a terrific woman named Helen, and moved to another state. He began selling insurance, and was successful. I visited him on a cross-country trip, and life had never been better. He was in love and doing well. As sometimes happens, we just fell out of communicating, but a couple of years ago I tried calling him. His email, phone number, and his wife had all vanished. I had been thinking about the irony of my having picked on him incessantly about telemarketing, and how funny it was that I eventually became a successful telesalesperson, albeit in b2b. This past week, I found a slip of paper with his birthday, so I looked his name and birthday up on the internet. Dave passed away in 1999 at the age of 54. He was a good guy who made a mistake and corrected it.
So back to today. I really endeavor to stay in touch with old customers no longer in the business, as well as people I’ve trained. I’ve trained thousands, and a lot of them remain friends. And I call them up every now and then, even though some of them work at companies that aren’t my customers. There’s something unique and interesting in all of them. Ultimately, all of us reading this blog post are in the people business. Inside sales isn’t just about making money, although we all do. When the dust clears though, it’s really about improving the lives of the people with whom we engage in business transactions, and after we’ve cashed our checks, that’s what we’ll remember best.
We’ve got a short week, this week, and have lots of calls to make. Thinking about Mary and Dave, it reinforced the value of making an extra call just to give a quick hello to an old customer who you haven’t talked to in awhile, and do a quick catch-up. You can LinkIn to him or her, too, and who knows, you might even get another business opportunity out of it.
So go and make a bunch of great calls this week, overshoot your quota, and remember to stay in touch with people who’ve helped you to become successful.