A blog subscriber recently wrote to me about her struggle to turn cold calls into appointments. She is new to the radio sales business, and has been frustrated at the rejection she’s run into.
I have never done sales before and while I have no issues with being assertive, I keep finding myself struggling to assure the clients that our radio station is where they want to be before that irritating phrase, “We’re not interested… click [phone hanging up!].”
I believe in this station and the amount of ears we reach with just one broadcast/advertisement, but I am not a rude person by any means and almost feel… well rude when I try to push past that initial turn down! How do I overcome this feeling and open myself up in the sales world?
A good place to start is to try to figure out what the person on the other end is actually saying
One possibility that cannot be discounted: they are genuinely not interested, and nothing you can say will convince them to meet with you. You will never convince these people, and your best bet is to move on to someone else as quickly as possible.
More likely, you are experiencing what phone sales expert Art Sobczak calls the Triple-R: Resistant Reflex Responses. “They are attempts to get salespeople off the phone. And they usually work. So prospects keep using them.”
How do you tell the difference? Sometimes you can smoke out the answer with a couple of well-placed questions.
In his book Smart Calling: Eliminate the Fear, Failure, and Rejection from Cold Calling
Inside Sales Rep Jeff Wirsling responds, “That’s fine, Mr. Client. In the event something changes with your current service/supplier, would it be all right if I stay in touch?” Then he questions what would need to change, placing him into a sales conversation.
Will this work every time? No. In fact, it might fail most of the time. But if it works on, say, a third of your “not interesteds”, it can have a huge positive effect on the number of productive sales conversations you have.
Obviously, if the customer hangs up or won’t give you permission to stay in touch, you have your answer. That's okay. It’s worth a shot to see if the client is… worth a shot.
A very wise radio salesperson once told me that 20% of the people he called weren’t going to interested no matter what he said, and 10% were interested enough to give him an appointment even if his approach was weak. The other 70% might be interested… but only if he said the right things when he called.
How do you increase the odds of convincing that 70% in the middle?
It helps to open the conversation with something that gives them a reason to be interested.
What's your initial approach on the phone right now?
If you are telling people you want to tell them about your radio station, or that you want to talk to them about advertising, you increase the odds of hitting a brick wall. Most businesspeople aren’t going to care about your radio station, and they aren’t interested in “advertising”.
So what do they care about? Here are some topics that are more likely to get them interested:
Try scripting an opening that tells them that you have some ideas to help them find more customers and make more sales. An effective opening quickly communicates three things to the prospect:
Here are some examples of the form, with calls made by a fictional AE at my old radio station:
“Mr. Evans, this is Margaret Dumont with KEX Radio. I read about your upcoming expansion in The Business Journal, and have some ideas that can bring more customers to your new location. I’d like to meet with you early next week to find out a little more about what direction you’re heading.”
or
“This is Margaret Dumont with KEX Radio. I saw your ad in the newspaper this morning, and think you may be missing an opportunity to generate more leads, and more qualified leads. I’d like to meet with you next week to find out a little more about where you’re trying to go with the campaign.”
or
“This is Margaret Dumont with KEX Radio. I read your press release online the other day, and have some ideas to turn the excitement about your new product into sales and revenue. I’d like to meet with you next week to find out a little more about the problem the product is designed to solve.”
In three sentences, the caller identifies herself and then quickly turns the focus of the call to the customer and how the customer might benefit from meeting with her. It sounds different from what most of the other salespeople say, and can buy you a few seconds to convince the prospect that you are different.
This will not work 100% of the time. “Not Interested” has always been part of sales and always will be. And there is more rejection in Year One of a sales career than in any other — a big reason why so many sales rookies never make it to Year Two.
The best way to reduce the number of “Not Interesteds” is to open the conversation with something with something your prospect will find interesting.
at February 23, 2024 11:37 AM PST
My boss always encouraged making an appointment in person. I know that cannot always be done.
An in person attempt for an appointment might get you a bit of small talk with employees that might give you tips and the best time to swing by. Befriend them as just as important as the decision maker. I have been turned down only to have employees ask the manager to give my idea a try. I'll note that if I proposed something that centered on a certain department in a department store, let's say, I'd talk to the department manager to make sure the idea jived with their goals.
Sometimes the employees do the selling for you.
Remember the salesperson has no value to the decision maker until you can show them you have value. Try asking about their business, something they're usually keen on talking about and if you need, tell them upfront you are not selling today but learning.
Good advice, Bill. Your build-ai-internal-advocate approach can definitely open some doors.
I mostly worked by appointment -- I found that a physical visit without an appointment was not an efficient use of my time. The one exception I made was if I was already across the street on another call, I'd drop in. But even then, my intent for the drop-in was to set an appointment to come back later for a formal meeting.
