1 . Some prospects have a need and want what you ’ re selling , but they aren ’ t acquainted with you yet . Those are the people we want to find and talk to . They ’ re the smallest minority of people you can potentially call on when prospecting . Worse yet , we don ’ t know who they are UNTIL we call ( you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the prince ).
2 . Some prospects need what you ’ re selling but are NOT INTERESTED right now . You can waste a lot of time on this group , cold-calling , trying to get them interested . You can argue until you run out of breath that they NEED you , but my advice is to let your marketing keep them in a prospect hopper system until they get interested . 3 . Some prospects have no need and no interest , period .
Obviously , we want to find people who fit into category No . 1 . The problem is that they don ’ t show up with a big , obvious “ 1 ” on their forehead . Yes , we can cull a list and target high-probability prospects , but the only way to find those who are looking for what we sell RIGHT NOW is to deliver your opening sales “ pitch ” to them . After hearing it , those who are in category No . 1 will agree to move forward . The rest obviously won ’ t .
Once you understand and accept that most prospects — better than 90 % — fall into categories 2 and 3 and are NOT “ 1s ,” it should become apparent you ’ re going to get a LOT more “ nos ” than “ yeses .” But if you emotionally and mentally cannot overcome being told “ no ” and allow yourself to be reduced to a timid , scared , quivering pulp , you ’ ll attract MORE resistance and never make it in sales .
In fact , great salespeople INVITE the “ no ” instead of trying to ignore it or not hear it .
Step 2 : Invite The ‘ No ,’ Not The ‘ Yes .’
My good friend Chris Voss , author of “ Never Split the Difference ,” talks about salespeople ’ s obsession with getting a “ yes .” Because of this , they become greedy , needy , and pushy , which triggers a flight response in the average prospect , causing someone to back away from you , mentally and ( possibly ) even physically . Nobody likes to feel like they ’ re being “ talked into ” something or bullied to buy . That ’ s not to say we don ’ t do things to try to get people to buy , but you can do it in a more elegant way than with hard-close techniques . You present what you have and make it okay to say , “ NO !”
Also , when you make it okay to get a “ no ,” you don ’ t get as anxious about hearing it . You just move on and invest your time into finding someone looking to buy what you sell . Easier on the prospects you ’ re talking to , easier on YOU .
For example , when we cold-call a business , I train my SDRs ( sales development reps , or appointment-setting crew ) to say , “ Have I caught you at a bad time ?” NOT the usual fake , “ How are you today ?” By doing this small thing , we are allowing the prospect to say , “ Yes , you ’ ve caught me at a bad time !” and get us off the phone . Almost no one says that . In nearly every case , they ’ ll say , “ No , I ’ ve got a minute .”
When booking a follow-up , we ’ ll say , “ Do you want me to call you back after you ’ ve had a chance to look through the materials , or would you prefer me not to call ?” We invite the no . ( Step 3 states the opening script we use when calling a prospect that is unfamiliar with us . You should note that we always send some type of marketing in advance — a letter , email , or both .)
Step 3 : Land A Good Opening Pitch .
To increase your chances of success , cut out all the meandering , weird small talk and get right down to the point of your call : What can you do for ME , the prospect ?
I ’ m constantly surprised at how hard this is for people to understand . They ’ ll trip all over themselves , talking on and on about what they do . Let me share with you an example of one of our opening pitches :
Rep : “ Hi , this is [ Rep Name ] calling from Robin Robins ’ office here at TMT . Have I caught you at a bad time ?” Prospect : “ No , I have a minute .” Rep : “ Great . We ’ re a marketing firm that specializes in helping MSPs and IT services companies like yours get more and higher-quality clients who are motivated to buy . As a way of introducing ourselves to you , we ’ d like to give you a free
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