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Digg it UP - A Misguided View of Using the Telephone In Sales
A little over a year ago my wife and I decided to jump out of a perfectly good airplane at 13,000 ft. But before we did so we had to fill out about 20 different forms basically stating this: “Even though it may be a perfect day, all equipment works properly, your tandem partner is not suicidal, the plane works fine, things are going great, you still may die! And you do this on your own free will.” It is just like saying, yes, I am willing to die today. So off we went until we reached the point of no return…..the part where you jump.I can tell you, it was a blast! I loved every minute of it. But, a few minutes into the jump I was fac
“ . . . on the phone, the clock is always ticking . . . there's always the fear that the conversation will end at any moment, that the other party will cut you off to take another, more important call.” It can and does happen. To outside salespeople, too, who have an “appointment,” only to show up and get a two-minute standing interview in the lobby. Real pros, in both cases, ensure this doesn't ha
If you're anything at all like me, you weren't in need of constant reminders to pay all of the monthly bills. And don't we all know that there are plenty of them including credit cards, electricity, cable, water, rent, and car loan or I will simply forget all about them. I've attempted many ways to overcome my little absent-mindedness, including such things as posting notes to myself on my refrigerator so I see them each day, using a PDA to keep track of due dates, and declaring a specific day each month when I will set everything else the size and take care of paying my bills right then and there. But none of those things were very effect
Anyway, Mr. McCormack, author of the book “What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School,” among others, also writes a syndicated newspaper column called “Success Secrets” In one of his columns, McCormack talks about the use of the phone as a sales tool.
For about 85% of the article, he's on target, although his view from the corporate tower is a bit clouded by the world he lives in, which isn't reality for most salespeople. Let's examine his points.
“Most salespeople are great in person, not so great on the phone.” If we're talking about outside salespeople, I wouldn't be so generous with “most” when using the term “great,” although I do agree with the “not so great on the phone.” And that's being complimentary.
He then gives reasons. For example, “You can't see the other person . . . You can't ask about that tennis trophy in the corner, admire his fine Zegna suit . . .” We now start to get a feeling that the author might not be in touch with common salespeople. Call me a rube, but I thought Zegna was a goaltender in the NHL.
“People prefer to make, rather than take calls . . . nine times out of 10, you're getting them at a bad time . . . hardly ideal for persuading them to buy something.” Right on, sir. The very reason that inside sales pros need to be extraordinarily skilled in order to do well.
“There is no flexibility on time . . . if you play a round of golf . . . you know that you have five hours to say what you have to say . . .” Again, a good point, but one that applies mostly to McCormack's view of the world, one where his sales involve multi-million dollar deals with the likes of Tiger Woods and Nike.
“ . . . on the phone, the clock is always ticking . . . there's always the fear that the conversation will end at any moment, that the other party will cut you off to take another, more important call.” It can and does happen. To outside salespeople, too, who have an “appointment,” only to show up and get a two-minute standing interview in the lobby. Real pros, in both cases, ensure this doesn't ha
Employees are a lot like cars or houses. The amount of care, attention to detail, and feelings of permanency we project toward our cars or houses is comparable to the way employees view their work relationship. Consider the analogy.Employee RentersWhen we rent a car or a house, we are less likely to spend a lot of time caring for it, nurturing it, or preserving it. On vacation, when we hit a big bump on the road, we say, “no big deal… it’s a rental.” Or if we knick the wall of our rented apartment we say, “oh well, we’ll be moving soon.” Our attention to the little details are not as precise because we know our re
For about 85% of the article, he's on target, although his view from the corporate tower is a bit clouded by the world he lives in, which isn't reality for most salespeople. Let's examine his points.
“Most salespeople are great in person, not so great on the phone.” If we're talking about outside salespeople, I wouldn't be so generous with “most” when using the term “great,” although I do agree with the “not so great on the phone.” And that's being complimentary.
He then gives reasons. For example, “You can't see the other person . . . You can't ask about that tennis trophy in the corner, admire his fine Zegna suit . . .” We now start to get a feeling that the author might not be in touch with common salespeople. Call me a rube, but I thought Zegna was a goaltender in the NHL.
“People prefer to make, rather than take calls . . . nine times out of 10, you're getting them at a bad time . . . hardly ideal for persuading them to buy something.” Right on, sir. The very reason that inside sales pros need to be extraordinarily skilled in order to do well.
“There is no flexibility on time . . . if you play a round of golf . . . you know that you have five hours to say what you have to say . . .” Again, a good point, but one that applies mostly to McCormack's view of the world, one where his sales involve multi-million dollar deals with the likes of Tiger Woods and Nike.
“ . . . on the phone, the clock is always ticking . . . there's always the fear that the conversation will end at any moment, that the other party will cut you off to take another, more important call.” It can and does happen. To outside salespeople, too, who have an “appointment,” only to show up and get a two-minute standing interview in the lobby. Real pros, in both cases, ensure this doesn't ha
The starter's pistol has gone off, the rest of the field has taken off, and you're still frozen in a kneeling position, head down and bracing for the race to begin. As your fellow competitors race to the finish line, you rise slowly and try to convince yourself that this race was not really for you. You console yourself by saying that the risks were too great and ask yourself such self-doubting questions as, "What if I had fallen?" or "What if I'd started and couldn't finish?" and "Who was I kidding? I had no business even thinking about entering that race." Starting a business is very much like running a race: Preparation and practice are
He then gives reasons. For example, “You can't see the other person . . . You can't ask about that tennis trophy in the corner, admire his fine Zegna suit . . .” We now start to get a feeling that the author might not be in touch with common salespeople. Call me a rube, but I thought Zegna was a goaltender in the NHL.
“People prefer to make, rather than take calls . . . nine times out of 10, you're getting them at a bad time . . . hardly ideal for persuading them to buy something.” Right on, sir. The very reason that inside sales pros need to be extraordinarily skilled in order to do well.
“There is no flexibility on time . . . if you play a round of golf . . . you know that you have five hours to say what you have to say . . .” Again, a good point, but one that applies mostly to McCormack's view of the world, one where his sales involve multi-million dollar deals with the likes of Tiger Woods and Nike.
“ . . . on the phone, the clock is always ticking . . . there's always the fear that the conversation will end at any moment, that the other party will cut you off to take another, more important call.” It can and does happen. To outside salespeople, too, who have an “appointment,” only to show up and get a two-minute standing interview in the lobby. Real pros, in both cases, ensure this doesn't ha
Many people that speak to me seem to have a problem. A business problem that is - not a personal one. And they're speaking to me because they want to do something about it. They want things to be better - more sales, new customers, new markets."What should I do?" they ask me.Then comes the tough part. Doctors have to do it. Auto mechanics do it. It even happens at your local computer repair shop. It is…diagnosis n. "A thorough analysis of facts or problems in order to gain understanding."Most business problems are difficult to solve without an understanding of the cause. Identifying the cause, not just working
“There is no flexibility on time . . . if you play a round of golf . . . you know that you have five hours to say what you have to say . . .” Again, a good point, but one that applies mostly to McCormack's view of the world, one where his sales involve multi-million dollar deals with the likes of Tiger Woods and Nike.
“ . . . on the phone, the clock is always ticking . . . there's always the fear that the conversation will end at any moment, that the other party will cut you off to take another, more important call.” It can and does happen. To outside salespeople, too, who have an “appointment,” only to show up and get a two-minute standing interview in the lobby. Real pros, in both cases, ensure this doesn't ha
I'm always surprised by managers that don't understand the relationship between leadership and the workforce. Managers and supervisors have titles, but leaders quite often don't.Leadership and management expert John Maxwell says, "Leadership is more - if not much more - influence, rather than position."Workplace employees have people they respect and to whom they look up to for guidance. Anyone looking to move up the corporate ladder, needs to either be one of the informal leaders or have the ability to recognize these leaders and encourage their participation in company programs."The reality is that 99 percent of all
“ . . . on the phone, the clock is always ticking . . . there's always the fear that the conversation will end at any moment, that the other party will cut you off to take another, more important call.” It can and does happen. To outside salespeople, too, who have an “appointment,” only to show up and get a two-minute standing interview in the lobby. Real pros, in both cases, ensure this doesn't happen.
“You have to be frontal on the phone.” I could almost accuse him of plagiarizing the next points right out of my columns: “If you're calling someone for the first time, you basically have 60 to 90 seconds to make your case: establish your bona fides, explain the purpose of your call, and hint at the benefit to the party you're calling.”
The Point of Contention
After a few more points I nod my head in agreement with (“Despite these objections, the telephone is the greatest business tool at your disposal.”), he suddenly steers this train off the tracks and crashes violently:
“In my experience the telephone's greatest strength as a selling tool is to establish your next face-to-face meeting with the prospect.” And brace yourself for this one, “You'll never close a complex deal over the phone.” Huh? Never? That's probably a shocker to those of you who are doing it.
But that's not all. He continues with, “For that matter, you might not even pique the prospect's interest (OK, I'll give him that one-lot's of unskilled sales reps don't pique interest, but that's because they don't know ho. But brace yourself for the next one as he shoves his wingtip in further.) An in-person meeting ought to be the goal of that first call. If you expect any more, you're not only overestimating the selling power of the telephone, you're also underestimating the power of showing up in person.”
No, Mr. McCormack, it seems like you're presuming that all selling is similar to what happens in the stratosphere of your zillion dollar-deal, sports marketing world. “Greetings Bentley, old boy. Biff here. How about I jet down for the afternoon, send a limo over for you, and we'll meet at the club for 18 and martinis afterward. We can nosh around some ideas on that $20 million shoe contract.”
As I've said time and again, face
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