Tag: Prospecting & Qualifying

The Importance of Following Up

by mike

Let me ask you this: If you just met with a really hot prospect, how long would you wait to follow up with them? A day? A couple of days? A week?

Here’s my experience with a couple of real estate agents this week:

My wife and I are selling our home and have begun interviewing real estate agents to represent us. I got a couple of referrals from good friends in our neighborhood, and then I reached out with an email telling them that I’m ready to list my home and want to meet. I think I’d call that a hot lead, wouldn’t you?

So Tuesday night we meet the first agents – a husband and wife team – a very nice couple who have been selling real estate in our neighborhood (“South of the Boulevard”) and claim to be the Number One agents in this area (It’s odd that the other two agents we meet with also claim to be the Number One agents as well, but that’s a discussion for another article).

We spend a nice couple of hours together, really like them, like their recent experience and success on the next block and also love their strategy. We tell them that we’re meeting with another agent referral the next night but that we will get back with them the following day.

O.K., so now comes the test. When would you, if you were them, get back with me?

The right answer is 9AM the next morning. If I were them, I would have sent a quick email saying it was so nice meeting me, that I enjoyed and really liked the house and that I was confident that I could sell the home using the strategy I outlined. I’d say if there was anything I could do, just reach out to me, and that I look forward to speaking with them (me) very soon.

No brainer, right? Well, here’s what happened: Because I’m a Top 20% closer, it was ME that sent them an email thanking them for their time and how nice it was to meet THEM! I sent it at 9AM and hadn’t heard back from them by NOON that afternoon! How do you think that made me feel in terms of how they would represent me?

O.K. So the next night we had the other agents over – a team of two “Number One” selling agents in our area (they really used that term as well!). We really liked their pitch also and were impressed by what they wanted to list our house for. In fact, when they left, we were leaning towards hiring them! How long do you think it took for them to follow up with us?

We’re still waiting to hear from them two days later!

I’m still stunned because as we told them we’d have a definite answer by the next morning. Did we get a follow up email? No. Did we get a follow up phone call? No. Now two days have gone by and have we heard from them?? NO!! YIKES! What’s wrong with these sales people??

In the meantime, the first couple emailed us the next day wondering what happened with our other meeting and expressed their strong desire to work with us. We then spoke on the phone and negotiated a bit. Now they are coming over tonight to pitch us some more. They’ve redeemed themselves a bit and will probably get our business.

By the way – the other team? We still haven’t heard from them, and I’m thinking I never will. And that’s too bad for them because when we woke up the next morning, we were completely on the fence, and we decided that whoever got back to us first would probably win our business. We figured we’d wait and see who was more of a go-getter, and who would be more aggressive overall and that this would (hopefully) translate into who would be more aggressive in selling our home.

So here’s the lesson for all you sales reps and business owners out there – Don’t wait days or weeks to follow up prospects! Especially the hot ones or the ones you’ve either met with or spent quality time with over the phone. A simple email that thanks them for their time, acknowledges how much you learned and how excited you are to help them will go A LONG WAY to earning you their business. Especially since not many others have this kind of urgency.

By the way, I usually send a quick email right away when I get off the phone with a prospect and include something of value in the email – a white paper, an article – something that will help them and also help them think about me.

So start thinking about what you can send to someone when you reach back out to a prospect. And follow up more often and sooner than you think you should. Based on what the majority of other sales reps apparently do, it will mean more business and referrals for you…

The Sooner You Lose the Sale, the Better

by mike

Last week I was speaking with another training company about perhaps joint venturing on webinars together. They would give a webinar to my list of subscribers, and I would then give one to theirs. After the initial conversation, next steps were made and we were to exchange various deliverables and take the conversation to the next level.

After giving it some thought, however, I decided that we weren’t a good match for each other, and, before we went through all the trouble of sending and reviewing material, I emailed them and declined. The email I got back was brilliant. They thanked me for my time and then simply said:

“We always like to lose early.”

Now that’s a response from a company (or sales rep) who understands the value of qualifying. Unfortunately, most sales reps operate the exact opposite way. Here’s how most sales reps do it:

Most sales reps act with a desperation to put anyone into their pipeline that will take their information. They are then happy to call these very shaky prospects back and waste their time by sending information or revising documents or whatever else they are asked to do. And after this long and frustrating process, the majority of these prospects end up not being a sale. In fact:

The industry wide closing average is 1 or 2 out of ten prospects!

Think about that for just a moment. Think about all the time, energy, phone calls, voice messages, emails, chasing and disappointment you have to go through pursuing 8 or 9 prospects through a sales cycle only to have them finally tell you no.

That’s why the response, “We always like to lose early” is so brilliant. By losing the sale early in the process – as a direct result of an intensive, first qualifying call, by the way – we both saved ourselves a lot of work, a lot of time in following up and the disappointment of a lost deal at the end of it all.

What this all comes down to is the concept of “disqualifying” your leads rather than qualifying them just enough to get them into your pipeline. What this allows you to do is spend less time pitching unqualified leads that steal your valuable time. And I’m sure you know who I’m talking about…

In order to identify non-buyers early on, get into the habit of asking these types of qualifying questions during the initial call:

“I know we’re at the very early stages of this, but give me an idea of your time frame for making a decision on something like this.”

“If you like what you see in our demo, what would be the next steps for you?”

“What would hold you back from making a decision to move forward on something like this in the next two weeks?”

“Besides yourself, who would be making the final decision on this?”

Then layer:

“And what insight do you have on where they are leaning right now?”

And finally,

“From what I’ve been describing so far, what are your initial thoughts on this?”

If any of these questions reveal that your prospect might not be a good fit or won’t buy at this time for any reason, then hold off! The less time you spend pitching bad leads who aren’t going to buy, the more time you can spend finding the real buyers.

This is a big point, so here it is again:

The Top 20% producers spend more time disqualifying out the non-buyers and so less time stuffing unqualified leads into their pipeline hoping they will close. In other words, they would rather lose early because it frees them up to find and spend more time with buyers later on. And this is what makes them top producers.

I challenge you to start losing more sales earlier in the sales process so you can spend more time winning bigger deals more often.

The magic of “Oh?”

by mike

Have you ever been at a complete loss of words after a client or prospect has said something so outrageous that at first you find it hard to believe they may have said it? Or have you ever gotten a question or a statement during your close that you just haven’t known how to answer? Or, have you ever reached the end of your presentation and asked for the order and your prospect said something that gave you no idea of what to do or say next?

If you’re in sales, then I know this has happened to you before. When it does, 90% of sales reps have no idea how to respond and they either freeze up or worse – they just keep pitching or talking over their prospect. Obviously both approaches are wrong, so what DO you do?

Years ago I learned a technique so simple, so powerful that the first time I tried it I couldn’t believe how effective it was. In fact, at first it was so simple that I found it hard to use! The magic of the technique isn’t just in the small word, but in what you do immediately afterwards. And here it is:

Whenever a prospect or client says something to you that you either don’t know how to respond to, or – and this is really important – if they give you an answer and you don’t have enough information from them to know which direction to go in or what to say next, then simply say:

“Oh?” And then immediately hit MUTE and listen…

OK, I know what you’re thinking – “Oh, Mike, that’s cheesy, it’s not going to work and they’ll probably say something like, ‘What did you say?’”

Do me a favor and put your skepticism on hold for a moment and try it. In fact, you don’t even have to take my word for it – try it for yourself and see how powerful this technique is.

What you’ll find is that as soon as you ask them, “Oh?” – and by the way, you have to use this with a questioning tone and really mean it like you’re confused and want and need to know more – and hit MUTE, it will be during that silence when your prospect or client will give you what I call, “The Gold.” In other words, they will almost always elaborate on what they really mean and it is this response that will finally tell you what direction you need to go to close the sale.

There was an old saying years ago in sales (by the way, I never fully endorsed it, but it sure was true) that the first one who talks loses. I agree that saying IS a little cheesy, but it does have some truth in it. You see, if you don’t know what the real objection is or how to answer an objection or stall, then if you talk over it, you WILL lose.

The magic of this technique is that your prospect or client will almost always give up the Gold. No matter what they say, the more they talk, the more you’ll learn. And the more you know, the more you’ll know how to proceed.

Again, don’t take my word for this. Instead, give yourself the week to try this technique and make sure and hit your MUTE button after you do. I guarantee you will benefit from it and one of the best parts is that it will teach you and your sales team how to start listening.

And listening is still the greatest skill any sales professional can possess.

The One Key to Setting Appointments by Phone

by mike

If you set appointments by phone, then you know how hard it can be. Getting past gatekeepers, identifying decision makers, overcoming brush offs, overcoming objections, it can get pretty discouraging, can’t it? What if I told you that the hardest thing about setting appointments is often something that you yourself create? That would be even more discouraging, wouldn’t it? Unless I also gave you the solution which is what I’m going to do…

So let’s start at the beginning. Quick question: What is the goal of an appointment call? No, this isn’t a trick question, although you’d be amazed at the answers I get. People say things like: “To make a sale,” or “To overcome objections,” or “To qualify for the order,” and things like that. I’m sure you can add to that list. Perhaps the reason the right answer is so often missed is because it seems so pedestrian. The right answer, of course, is “To make an appointment!”

The reason sales reps struggle so much to achieve this simple aim is because they try to do too much. And the biggest area they do this in is when it comes to handling objections. You know the kind: “I/we don’t have any money,” or “I/we’ve already got everything taken care of,” or “Just put it in the mail,” etc.

Ok, now here’s the key:

There is a HUGE difference between an objection and an initial resistance statement, and you handle them both VERY differently.

This is a BIG deal when it comes to making appointments and here’s why: All the so-called objections you get are in fact just initial resistance. It’s the same as when you go to a store (especially when you know what you’re going to buy) and a sales rep greets you with, “Can I help you?” What do you usually say? How about, “Oh, just looking.” You aren’t just looking, you’re there to buy, but your initial reaction to a sales rep is to put them off.

This is the same when you’re setting an appointment. All the statements above are just initial resistance. They aren’t objections because you haven’t pitched anyone yet. In other words, there isn’t anything to object TO. And because of this, you’re making a big mistake if you try to overcome initial resistance statements like you handle objections. Because as soon as you do this, you’ll lose because your prospect can just dismiss you and hang up.

So here’s what you SHOULD do when you get initial resistance when you make an appointment call: You should simply acknowledge you heard it, give a quick sentence or two to help you get around it, and then move back into asking for the appointment again. Here’s how it goes:

The Wrong Way to handle initial resistance:

Prospect: “We don’t have the money right now”

Sales Rep: “No problem. We have a variety of payment plans that can fit into any budget. In fact you can get started today for as little as $150 down, and we’ll bill you monthly for as little as $35 for the next 10 years. You can afford that, can’t you?”

The Right Way to handle initial resistance:

Prospect: “We don’t have the money right now”

Sales Rep: “That’s perfectly fine and this isn’t about money. Instead, it’s about making a connection and introducing you to our firm and providing you with some options for the future for when you are in the market for this. Now, to make sure I bring you out the right brochure, let me just ask you a couple of quick questions…”

You see the difference? When you get initial resistance, don’t try to overcome it like you would an objection, instead, you should disarm your prospect, move past it, qualify and then ask for the appointment again.

If you can learn this key difference, you’ll stop fighting with prospects, and you’ll begin setting more appointments. And isn’t that the real objective of an appointment call?

How to Qualify Inbound Leads

by mike

New marketing funnels and lead nurturing campaigns have created what has always been a salesperson’s dream: more inbound leads. Sales reps love receiving these leads and tell me all the time that these “warm” leads must be better because they called in requesting information.

“These leads are more qualified because they are calling in,” I hear over and over. But we all know this isn’t necessarily true is it? In fact this attitude leads to one of the biggest mistake 80% of your competition is making when they receive warm leads — they go into pitch mode rather than qualification mode.

Eighty percent of your competition mistake the “implied interest” of an inbound lead to mean they are already qualified, and all they need to do is explain their product or service. Wrong!

Top reps, on the other hand, know that inbound leads can be some of the biggest time wasters of all, so they do what they always do — disqualify out people who are “just looking” so that they can identify and spend time with the real buyers.

And they do this by asking questions instead of pitching.

Here are some great questions to ask the next time you get an inbound lead:

How to ask for the buying motive:
“Thank you for contacting us today, what was it about our ad/promotion/website that motivated you to call us today?”

How to determine a shopper:
“Who else are you looking into?”

How to determine how close or far away you are from a potential deal:
“What do you like best so far?”

How to determine further motivation:
“How long have you been thinking about (buying, investing, changing) something like this?” Then,

How to determine the possible objections:
“What has kept you from acting on this?

How to determine time frame:
“When are you looking to make a decision on this?”
You see how this goes. Just remember, to be a Top 20% producer, you have to begin finding buyers — whatever the lead source. So stop pitching your inbound leads and start qualifying! Remember, it’s still up to you to find and separate the buyers from the non-buyers.

How to Use Bingo to Increase Sales

by mike

Last week I was in Las Vegas presenting to a team of about 150 directors of inside sales and the subject was how they could to help their inside sales teams set more appointments. The problem their teams were having (and they are not unique in this way as many of you know through experience) was learning how to handle/bypass initial resistance and persevere through to getting their prospects to agree to an in house meeting. More specifically, the team was getting discouraged after one or two initial objections and giving up too soon.

To help them gain perspective on the importance of being persistent, I shared the following sales statistics with them:

48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
12% of sales people only make three contacts and stop
ONLY 10% of sales people make more than three contacts
2% of sales are made on the first contact
3% of sales are made on the second contact
5% of sales are made on the third contact
10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

In terms of prospecting and asking for the appointment, these statistics are extremely useful. What the directors were finding was that their reps were giving up long before the prospect was ready to say yes to the appointment. What we needed to do was to A) teach the reps how to effectively handle the initial resistance they were getting, and then B) teach them how to persevere long enough to keep asking for the appointment until the prospect said yes.

To teach the reps how to handle initial resistance, we developed a playbook of scripted responses that equipped the reps with effective ways of dealing with the objections they get over and over again. Knowing how to confidently handle these objections is the first step to teaching the reps how to persevere in the face of rejection.

The second step in persevering long enough to finally get a yes to setting the appointment was to teach the reps that it was not only OK to repeatedly get several no’s or objections, but that it was actually necessary to get them. In other words, we needed to train the reps that more no’s they get, the nearer they were to actually getting the appointment. And this is where the Bingo idea came in.

There are many ways that front line supervisors and managers can mentor and coach sales reps through prospecting and closing calls, but a new way of teaching them to actually look forward to getting no’s is to make a game of it using Bingo as the model.

As many of you know, the game of bingo is played by matching numbers that are drawn to a game card that contains 24 numbered spaces in a 5 x 5 grid. Once a player completes a ‘Bingo’ pattern, such as a line with five numbers in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row on one of their cards, they win the game and or a prize. During the training, one of the directors had a great idea that would use the game of bingo to help their sales reps overcome their fear of getting rejected.

She said that she was going to put a bingo card together, but she was going to replace the numbers on the card with abbreviations of objections. For example, she would make one of the squares “NI” for “Not Interested” and “NM” for “No Money” and “SI” for “Just send some information.” Then she would pass out a card to each sales rep during their next scheduled call night, and she would instruct the rep to cross out one of the squares whenever they got the corresponding objection. The first one to complete a ‘Bingo’ pattern would win!

The brilliance of this idea is that by making getting objections or blow offs a game the reps will be trained to not only expect them, but also to look forward to getting them as well. In fact, because reps often get several objections per call, the practice of completing a bingo card will train the rep that the more times they ask for the appointment on the same call (and so get more objections) the more they will ‘win’ at the game. Oh, and the more times they win at bingo, the more times they will win by getting an appointment as well.

Teaching sales reps to persevere through the objections and stalls they get on calls will result in more confidence, less fear and call reluctance and, of course, more appointments and sales. And the great thing about using bingo to teach this is that reps suddenly get to ‘reframe’ what is usually a demoralizing experience into a game of chance. The more chances they take in using the rebuttal scripts and asking for the appointment, the more chances they have to win at the game of sales.

I thanked Jill for this great training idea, and each time I mentioned it to the next group of directors they liked it, too. If you are in charge of a group of inside sales reps – or if you are an inside sales rep and need some help in persevering through objections – then I encourage you to try this out as well. Remember, persistence overcomes resistance, so use the game of bingo to teach your reps how to persevere to get the appointment or the sale – or both!

2 Great New Year’s Questions for Your Clients

by mike

Welcome back to the office, how do you feel? Overwhelmed? Under pressure already? If so, then you’re not alone. Most company’s management and sales teams are under immediate pressure already to begin accomplishing their new goals and sales targets. In fact, this pressure is also felt in the accounting department, the marketing department, and everywhere else. You can probably feel it in your company, too.

As you speak with your clients and prospects this week, realize that they are all feeling this pressure as well. While this may seem like a bad thing, it can actually present a great opening for you. Here’s how I handle the companies and contacts I speak with this month:

After talking briefly about the holidays and new year’s celebration, I always start with question number one –

“So ________, what are the top 3 initiatives for your department has this year?” Then I hit mute and take notes.

If they need a little help here, I use layering questions like:

“And what was your revenue like last year?” Or

“What percentage increase are you asked to produce this year?” Or

“What are you doing differently to accomplish this?”

“What do you think is most needed for you to succeed at that?”

After I’ve listened and asked layering questions and taken notes on the three initiatives, I ask the second question –

“And how can I help you accomplish that?”

Once again, I hit the mute button and take notes. If I get an, “Ah, I don’t know,” then I once again use layering questions like:

“Have you heard of my new automated Core Inside Selling Skills Webinar Program?” Or I ask a good assumptive question like:

“How much of a budget do you have per quarter for sales training?” Or,

“How big of a role do you think increased sales training is going to play?” Or,

“If you could wave a magic wand and get three resources to help you accomplish your goals, what would they be?”

Now I’m sure you can come up with a few of your own questions here, but you get the idea. The point is to ask questions and LISTEN to your prospect’s response. Remember, your clients and prospects have all the information you need to make a sale, and they will almost always tell you IF YOU ASK QUESTIONS AND LISTEN TO THEIR RESPONSES. This is where your mute button comes in.

5 Qualifying Questions You Must Ask Every Time

by mike

Would you like a way to become instantly better at closing more sales over the phone? If so, then simply incorporate these “must know” questions into your first qualifying call and you will immediately have better results when you call back to close.

How can I be so certain knowing the answers to these 5 questions will make you a better closer? It’s because of the indisputable rule in sales: “You can’t close an unqualified lead.” And that’s exactly what 80% of your competition is doing.

I listen to hundreds of actual calls from my clients each month, and I hear it over and over again – sales reps struggling to present their products and services to prospects who are not qualified in fundamental ways. Here’s are the questions you can ask to avoid this and to qualify your prospects better:

1) “What role do you play in the decision process?” You’d be amazed by how many sales reps simply never ask this question and, instead, assume they are dealing with a decision maker. In fact, have you ever gotten to the end of your close and been told, “Well, I have to send this to corporate and see what they think…”

That’s because you never asked question #1.

2) “How does this decision process work? Walk me through it.” If you have a pipeline full of prospects who didn’t buy after your demo or presentation, then you probably didn’t ask this question either. And I’ll bet your closing rate is less than 2 out of 10…..

3) “How many times in the last couple of months did you present something like this to (the board, corporate, the owner) and what happened?” If you want to know what the likelihood of getting your product or service through the decision process they described to you and what the likelihood of them actually closing is, just ask this question. The answer they give you will be the same as the one you’re going to get back next week…

4) ” __________ based on what you’ve heard so far, how much of a fit do you think this is for what you’re looking to accomplish?” What, a trial close on the first call?! Absolutely! If you’re dealing with a real buyer for your product or service, there is no better question than that one to uncover what any potential objections might be waiting for you when you call back to close. AND, there is no better question to reveal how close you may be to getting the deal when you call back…

5) ” ___________, is there anything you can think of that might stand in the way of us doing business in the next few weeks if you like what you see?” This question is for Top 20% closers only and it’s the question that will move you into the Top 1%. Try it and start re-qualifying or start writing up your order for the next call…

Your 4-Step Plan for Prospects Who Aren’t Calling You Back

by mike

We’ve all got a pipeline full of them: prospects who sounded good in the beginning, but now there’s no news from them. Are they still interested? Have they found another solution? Was it something we said or is the price too high or have they changed their mind? Who knows – they simply aren’t responsive. So what should you do?

The first thing you should do is relax. Take a deep breath. Just because they haven’t gotten back to you doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t still interested, nor does it mean they aren’t going to still be a deal. Some won’t, but some still will. It’s frustrating, I know, but there are a couple of things to understand and to do so let’s take it from the top:

#1: The first thing you need to remember is that prospects buy according to their schedule – not yours. As a sales rep, I know you want, no, you need the deal today. We all do. But your prospect usually isn’t under the same urgency as you are to get the deal done. There are many other initiatives, activities, people, processes, etc, they are dealing with and your product or service is just one of many things they have on their plate. So again, don’t take it personally, just relax and plan your next move.

#2: Your next move should be the one you both agreed on during your last conversation. You did make a firm appointment for your next conversation, didn’t you? This is rule of engagement number one, so if you’re not in the habit of doing that, please begin today. If you did make a firm appointment and they missed it, then send a gentle email acknowledging that they must be as busy as you are and you understand. Do not be accusatory, don’t assign blame and don’t under any circumstance sound hurt or make them feel guilty. Instead, be professional and use something like the following:

Subject Line: Our meeting

John,

So sorry we missed each other today – I know how time can get by us. When you have a moment, please shoot me an email back suggesting some better times later this week or next that would be better for us to connect.

You can either respond to this email or leave me a quick message here (your number).

Looking forward to hearing back,

Mike Brooks

#3: Talk to secretaries, assistants or others in their department. If possible, always form a relationship with anyone else answering the phone or working in the same department as your prospect. When you next attempt to reach them, ask that other person what your prospect’s schedule is like and what’s going on with the department or company. Using this method, I’ve found out that some of my prospects were travelling for two weeks, or they were at company conferences, or on vacation, etc. Once I learn this, I reference this in my next email attempts to reach them.

The best rule of thumb is to acknowledge what your prospect is going through and to never pressure them. Always let them set the best time/days to reconnect. If you are persistent and respectful in this way, real prospects will always get back with you and let you know.

#4: If you have been patient in the ways described above and a month or so has gone by and you’ve still not heard from your prospect, then it is time to use the “Should I Stay or Should I Go” email I’ve written about before. Remember, the power of this email is that you are giving your prospect a way out with option number two and this will almost always get them to respond to you. It may not be the response you want, but believe me, if your prospect has found another solution or won’t be a deal, it’s always better to know it and move on. Here’s the email for you in case you missed it:

Subject line is: “Should I stay or should I go?”
“_________ I haven’t heard back from you and that tells me one of three things:

1) You’ve already chosen another company for this and if that’s the case please let me know so can I stop bothering you,

2) You’re still interested but haven’t had the time to get back to me yet.

3) You’ve fallen and can’t get up and in that case please let me know and I’ll call 911 for you…

Please let me know which one it is because I’m starting to worry… Thanks in advance, and I look forward to hearing back from you.”

Following these four steps should restore you to sanity in regards to your sales cycle. Remember, closing a sale is a process and you must let it unfold in the way that best suits the buying habits of your prospect or client. Don’t be desperate, don’t pressure, and don’t let your prospect see you sweat. Instead, use the four steps above to deal with the process professionally and confidently. That attitude will come across to your buyer and they will respond accordingly.

How to Improve a Bad Script

by mike

If you missed my workshop on writing a killer prospecting script last week, then you missed a golden opportunity to take an ineffective script and turn it into a script that engages your prospects and helps you build the rapport you need to determine whether or not you’re dealing with a true buyer for your product or service. (The good news is that you can purchase a replay of the workshop by clicking here).

One of the things we did in the workshop is we began with a typically bad scripted opening, and we changed it into an opening that creates interest and allows you to interact with your prospect. Here is the example we used for a bad opening (by the way, this is a real example of how bad some company’s scripts actually are – I hope yours isn’t like this!):

“Hi my name is _______ _______ with ABC Merchant Solutions and we work with local business owners such as yourself and we help you process your credit cards more efficiently while also offering a host of value added services such as gift cards, reward cards and other services that can help you operate more profitably.

The reason for the call is that I would like to schedule an appointment to find out who you are using now and to show you the kinds of services that we can help you with. Would you have time later in the week or is there a day next week that may work better for you?”

Whew! This script is terrible because (among others things) it doesn’t make any connection with the decision maker – in fact it alienates them; it pitches at the prospect giving them no opportunity to respond or engage; and you can just feel the prospect waiting for the sales rep to take a break so they can blow them off.

Again, this is how many prospecting scripts are structured. In the workshop, we changed this opening to this:

“Hi __________ this is ________ ________ with ABC Merchant Solutions, how is your Thursday morning going so far?

[Listen and respond appropriately!]

Briefly __________, we specialize in working with local businesses like yours helping them process credit cards more cost effectively. Let me ask you a quick question…”

This new opening is much improved for many reasons. To start with, the sales rep is engaging in a conversation and is actually speaking with someone instead of ‘at’ someone. They are also allowing time for the prospect to interact which allows them to gage the level of interest of the prospect. The value statement is short – just one sentence – and it ends with a qualifying question which once again allows the prospect a chance to speak and the rep a chance to listen to what and how the prospect responds.

We followed this up with a list of four sample questions (of course there are many others and many different kinds of questions depending on how receptive the prospect is and what your product or service is). Here is a list of sample questions:

“Besides accepting credit cards at your business, do you offer any kind of a rewards cards or gift cards to your customers?”

OR

“You do accept credit cards there at your business, don’t you?”

OR

“If I could show you a way to increase your revenue right now and offer you better service and support, would you be willing to invest 5 minutes to find out how?”

OR

“How do you currently process the majority of your credit cards – there in the store or do you also do business online?”

By asking questions like this early in the process, the sales rep can develop a consultative sales approach, build rapport with the prospect, determine their level of interest, get valuable information on what direction to go in next and a lot of other information that most reps never get. This approach also sets up the next part of the script which involves handling any initial resistance or objections that may come up.

In addition to this first part of the script, we then moved on to other qualifying, exploratory questions, additional objection handling, and then we moved into the importance of qualifying for the “big four” areas of identifying a qualified lead. We then completed the call defining a commitment and recap and then proceeded to get buy in on the next steps.

These (and other areas) make up the definition of a qualified lead. It’s still amazing to me that many sales reps use ineffective scripts that are almost devoid of any true qualifying questions, but they do. In fact, we also had a discussion on how most sales companies have the philosophy of stuffing as many leads into their pipeline as possible and seeing how many come out the other end. This is why the national closing percentage is roughly 2 out of 10 leads (and that’s of leads that have supposedly been qualified and sent information!).

I know this is all sounding like a shameless endorsement of you purchasing the replay of this invaluable webinar, and, well, OK, it is! The bottom line is this: If you’re not using proven and effective methods and processes to earn the right to speak with decision makers and you don’t know how to build rapport and qualify them when you do, then you’re simply not going to make many sales in your business. In fact, you’ll struggle and end up hating your job (or wonder why your company isn’t succeeding). And that can easily be changed by investing a little bit of money and time in learning better techniques.
Eighty percent of sales reps will never do this, but 20% will. And it’s that 20% that end up making all the money and living the life that others only dream about. I’m here to tell you that you can get better and move into that elite group, too, if you really want it.

If you do, you can start here.