You Are Asking The Wrong Person For A Decision!

Now, to clear this up I am not talking about going for the 'head honcho' because that’ll be too obvious and in actually fact they are the worst person to ask a decision of anyway. [Explained below]

Unquestionably if your telemarketing or account management staff had an opportunity to ask a prospects ‘Customer Service’ team if they thought ‘Call Recording’ would be of benefit to them, then quite rightly they would respond with a resounding, ‘Absolutely!’

The same is also true is you had the opportunity to question an ‘Inbound Order Taking’ team as to whether having information to hand such as ‘Account Numbers’, ‘Previous Orders’, ‘Contact Details’ and even ‘Outstanding Invoices’ before they’ve even answered the call, I think you’ll agree that again, you’d be greeted with a ‘That would be Amazing!’.

Unfortunately though, it is nigh on impossible to actually ask these questions of staff members whilst on a call because you don’t have time and it is extremely unlikely that your contact would give you permission.

Taking Advantage of Their Natural Human Behaviour

Have you ever bought something for someone that you couldn’t necessarily see the benefit of for yourself? [For example: Another handbag for your wife, a ridiculous Xbox for a boyfriend or even a set of screwdrivers for a husband]

I’m hoping you all get the idea by the ‘stereotypical examples’ above however they are there just to serve as an example.

Before I get down to the actual strategy I first want to paint the picture as to where this idea came from.

One Saturday afternoon I was with my partner and our two boys in a shopping centre in Southampton. On passing a men’s tailors I noticed a suit in the shop window which had be discounted from £795.00 down to £395.00. The suit looked absolutely perfect and on enquiring they also had it in my size.  Then something bazaar happened!

I then had a moment of what can only be described as ‘self questioning and guilt’. Can I justify spending £395.00 on another suit? Could I use the money better elsewhere? Do I really need another suit?

All these questions started to flood my mind and eventually I left the shop having NOT bought the suit.

About 30 minutes later we were passing a shop when my partner spotted a dress in the window that was on sale for £370.00 from the original price of £490.00. My partner absolutely loved it as it was coming up to the Christmas party [although she already had bought a dress for it!], so we stopped and looked at it, asked what sizes they had available and luckily they had it in her size.

I said to her, ‘Do you like it?’ to which she replied, ‘Yes I love it’... guess what I said?

"Let's go and get it!"

At NO stage throughout that buying process did I even consider the doubts I had 30 minutes previous about whether we could afford it or was it really necessary. It didn’t even enter my mind once because I wanted to please my partner and could see she really wanted it.

It’s Easier to Commit to What Others Will Benefit From

Without doubt this has to be one of the simplest yet most effective principles for you to employ and see the results instantly.

[Key Point] Categorically, NEVER and I mean NEVER ask the opinion of the person you are talking to when presenting your product, service or asking for an appointment of.

I know traditional sales techniques will encourage you to offer ‘trail closes’ or ‘commitment points’ by asking the prospect whether they can see the benefit of XYZ feature or product however it is highly likely that you’ll either get a ‘NO’ or at best a ‘Possibly’

How to Get HUGE Compliance During a Telephone Pitch

Relate ALL BENEFITS to the staff members or customers that they will affect!

Paraphrased Examples:

“... ABC product enables you to do this, that and the other. Can you see for example how this would be a benefit to your Customer Service Team for settling any service or order issues?”

“... DEF allows you to do this, that and the other which I think you’ll agree for those who work away from the office would be of massive benefit?”

“... GHI enables you to have this, that and the other. Can you see how this would improve the efficiency of your servicing and accounts teams for example?”

“... JKL allows you to do this, that and the other which I think if we asked your customers they would only say would be fantastic customer service right?”

Summary

It is a fact that as human beings we find it far easier to commit to something when it is related to a 3^rd person than we do when related to ourselves.

There is NO guilt or internal questioning when asked to commit to something on behalf of someone else and this is why compliance is greatly improved.

[Key Point 2]

If you have received.. 'Yes I can See That' & 'Yes That Would Work For Them' throughout your telephone call, then how hard is it now for that person to NOW SAY NO to at least a initial meeting? In order to say NO your prospect has to do something people feel very uncomfortable with and that's go back on their word especially if they've admitted that there are some real benefits to staff members.

[Remember, their job is to ensure their staff work as best they can to ensure that company's future prosperity. To go back on what was said and agreed to 'help' that process is a very difficult thing to do.]

This as you can imagine is just one of many ways to improve your conversions for booking sales appointments.

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