7 rules for sales immediacy: let’s stop sitting around and waiting for the order
Posted by Geoff Alexander on Tue, Oct 11, 2011 @ 10:02 AM
One of the behaviors I try to correct when I coach inside sales reps after my inside sales training courses is the false sense that a rep can just lay back, relax, do a little “follow-up” calling, leave a few voicemails, and just let those orders roll in. Here are some issues I’ve run across recently that have to be addressed if a rep is going to be consistently over quota, and creative proactivity is a good part of the prescription for correction. In each case described below, the outbound sales call is based on the prospect initially contacting the company, requesting a demonstration, evaluation, or a callback from a rep:
1) After leaving the first voicemail, do talk to someone else in the decision process on the second call, if the initial call was never returned. Your job isn’t to talk to a name on the list. It’s to sell a solution, and you can sell it to someone else engaged in the decision process, too.
2) If you get an outgoing voicemail message ( OGVM) and want to hang up before leaving a message, be sure to listen to the OGVM all the way through, as he or she may leave the name of someone else to call. Then call that person.
3) If you must leave a voicemail, make a reference to anything you know about the prospect company, and refer to a way that your solution can streamline the process relating to it. This is much more compelling than saying “please call me back so I can find out more about your situation…” You might actually get your call returned.
4) Don’t allow the prospect to control the call. In the first 2 minutes, determine business need, the consequence of not moving forward, solution requirements, and timeframe for implementation. If the prospect is going to “free-flow” conversationally, this ensures that you at least have asked those questions, and derived answers, first. Depending on those answers, you may have a qualified or unqualified opportunity, and can proceed appropriately.
5) Has the prospect downloaded an evaluation? If so, ask in the first minute of the call what the prospect needs to see in order to make a decision to move forward you’re your product or service. When you do, you’ll exactly what (and how) the prospect is thinking.
6) Don’t mention the competition before the prospect does. BUT if he or she does, ask what other solutions he or she is considering, ask what the prospect likes about them, and what could be better about the competitor, in a perfect world. Again, know what (and how) your prospect is thinking. In the case of the competition being involved, ignorance is not bliss.
7) Forget to ask something important and you’ve terminated the call? Call right back and ask. The prospect is in, and will be amenable to answering something you’ve forgotten to ask.
Sure, there are exceptions to these rules, but these cover probably 90% of all situations in the scenarios I’ve described. If you follow them, you’ll close more business faster, have more conversations, and get kicked around far fewer times. You’ll also be able to counter the competition, either by getting to the prospect because the competitor couldn’t, or by determining what the prospect loves or dislikes about your competitor. Know your competition, and be concerned that you may be undermined by them. A little paranoia about the competition selling behind your back is healthy.
So there are 7 rules for using a little bit of healthy impatience to get you past quota faster. Add them to your Best Practices Playbook.