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April 29th, 2009 by Barry Caponi
Many sales managers we talk to operate under the assumption that because their sales team, once in front of a target, can move that target through the pipeline effectively, they are properly equipped and capable of getting a target into the pipeline. After all, selling is selling, isn’t it? The sale, or objective for this step in the process is all that is different, right?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. And this misunderstanding of the differences has created what we like to call the ‘elephant in the sales bullpen’. It is apparent to everyone that enough Initial Appointments are not being set, but the root cause is not pursued as a separate process. Instead, us sales managers all ignore the elephant and utter the old mantra, “Make more dials”!
This four part blog explores the four major differences: the Beginning Repartee, the Pace of the Exchange, the Types of Responses heard from the target, and Preparation to Succeed.
- The Preparation to Succeed. When in front of a target during the pipeline phase of the sales process, our preparation for the meeting should definitely include some planning. However, we can not plan for all contingencies. That means that much of our success is based on our ability to think on our feet as each situation is slightly different.
On a cold call, there are only a few responses we’ll hear if we deliver the same message each time we approach someone. To accomplish that, we must memorize our opening approach to limit the responses we’ll hear and then memorize the responses we’ll use to Counter those.
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April 27th, 2009 by Barry Caponi
Many sales managers we talk to operate under the assumption that because their sales team, once in front of a target, can move that target through the pipeline effectively, they are properly equipped and capable of getting a target into the pipeline. After all, selling is selling, isn’t it? The sale, or objective for this step in the process is all that is different, right?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. And this misunderstanding of the differences has created what we like to call the ‘elephant in the sales bullpen’. It is apparent to everyone that enough Initial Appointments are not being set, but the root cause is not pursued as a separate process. Instead, us sales managers all ignore the elephant and utter the old mantra, “Make more dials”!
This four part blog explores the four major differences: the Beginning Repartee, the Pace of the Exchange, the Types of Responses heard from the target, and Preparation to Succeed.
- The Types of Responses Heard. Because a target has agreed to meet with us, by definition, they are willing to hear our story and share theirs to help determine whether it makes sense for them to move forward with us. That means their responses to questions we ask are more apt to be based on logic.
On a cold call, the responses we generally hear are more of a knee jerk response designed to get us off the phone. Those responses are seldom true, although they may have a grain of truth. If you’ll think about it, each of us has our own favorite we use when cold called.
Applying logic to their ‘lie’ does no good because there is no logic in their response. Therefore when we call someone, we must give them a vehicle to retreat from that opening knee jerk response in such a way that they save face and open their mind to a short conversation regarding what we’ve done for others to address a challenge or supply a benefit.
We must Counter their negative response using a transition that provides them the ability to save face (a lot of our customers felt the same way) and then ask a question that will open their mind to a short conversation by asking one of our Bridge Questions.
See October 18, 2008 Supplemental Blog for rules for Bridge Questions.
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April 15th, 2009 by Barry Caponi
Many sales managers we talk to operate under the assumption that because their sales team, once in front of a target, can move that target through the pipeline effectively, they are properly equipped and capable of getting a target into the pipeline. After all, selling is selling, isn’t it? The sale, or objective for this step in the process is all that is different, right?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. And this misunderstanding of the differences has created what we like to call the ‘elephant in the sales bullpen’. It is apparent to everyone that enough Initial Appointments are not being set, but the root cause is not pursued as a separate process. Instead, us sales managers all ignore the elephant and utter the old mantra, “Make more dials”!
This four part blog explores the four major differences: the Beginning Repartee, the Pace of the Exchange, the Types of Responses heard from the target, and Preparation to Succeed.
- The Pace of the Exchange. When in front of a target in a sales call, the pace of the conversation is generally deliberate, calculated and measured. When the prospect asks us a question, we can take a moment to think about the question before answering. It is totally acceptable to do so. As a matter of fact, it can be construed as a sign of disrespect if we don’t ever seem to take a moment to think about what is asked and always seem to be quick with what could be taken as a ‘canned’ response.
On an appointment setting call, the pace is accelerated. Our targets generally answer very quickly by falling back on their favorite ‘Conditioned Response’ – i.e., their typical way of getting sales people off the phone quickly. They don’t need to think about it, it is reflex.
We must respond just as quickly, or risk being hung up on, or at least put on the defensive. The whole conversation is conducted at 90 miles an hour. So if we’re not ready and practiced at handling the few standard Conditioned Responses that we hear, we’ll not have near the results we’d like to, need to, or have time for.
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April 7th, 2009 by Barry Caponi
Many sales managers we talk to operate under the assumption that because their sales team, once in front of a target, can move that target through the pipeline effectively, they are properly equipped and capable of getting a target into the pipeline. After all, selling is selling, isn’t it? The sale, or objective, is just different, right?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. And this misunderstanding of the differences has created what we like to call the ‘elephant in the sales bullpen’. It is apparent to everyone that enough Initial Appointments are not being set, but the root cause is not pursued. Instead, us sales managers all ignore the elephant and utter the old mantra, “Make more dials”!
This four part blog explores the four major differences: the Beginning Repartee, the Pace of the Exchange, the Types of Responses heard from the target, and Preparation to Succeed.
- The Beginning Repartee. If our target has agreed to an appointment with us, the opening moments of the call, although perhaps not yet openly friendly, are at least collegial or warm. That happens because our target has already decided to invest time with us so they are open to the conversation and to us.
On a cold appointment making call, the opposite is true. They have not yet agreed that there is value in even talking, let alone meeting with us. The reasons for that are twofold. The first is that they don’t think they need what we’re selling yet, so why would they need to have this conversation. Couple that with reason number two, we’re interrupting them from doing something and they don’t even want to talk with us. Hence, they’ll do anything, including lie to us, to get us off the phone. Hence, the term ‘cold’ call as the target’s behavior towards us is cold. What that means is that the call begins as being adversarial.
In the Initial Appointment, the normal conversational skills we all have developed throughout our life are at play. Not so in a cold call. The skills necessary to Counter that initial negative response and get the target to open their mind for a moment to a conversation about our value proposition are not needed nor practiced in the pipeline half of the selling process.
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April 1st, 2009 by Barry Caponi
A while back I was just beginning a Call Block (a set aside block of time to do nothing but make appointment making calls) and I got tongue tied while trying to get through my opening script. Hardly could I get my name out as a matter of embarrassing fact. It happens to everyone from time to time, right?
I stopped, chuckled at myself, and asked with all the sincerity I could muster, “Do you mind if I start again?” My target chuckled along with me and said, ‘Sure”. We wound up having a good qualifying conversation (he was not qualified, but as we know, every ‘No’ gets us closer to a ‘Yes’, so no complaints here).
The caveat with humor is on a cold call is that it normally occurs spontaneously. It is not planned. Jokes should never be used as you’ll lose credibility.
This spontaneity, it should be noted, stems from self-confidence. The reason I was able to laugh at myself was because I was confident in my ability to deliver my opening script. It is delivered in a very conversational manner because it is. I do not even need the script in front of me anymore, so it doesn’t come across as being read.
The moral of the story is that humor, especially self-deprecating humor, can be very effective in breaking down the barriers that exist on a cold call.
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