Sell Like You Only Have 3 Minutes

Many reps confuse social behaviors with sales behaviors. Prospects are not your friends. They are busy people that you probably interrupted by your call. They would appreciate your being businesslike – stating why you are calling, saying what you have to say, and then letting them get back to work.

Babbling senseless inanities like “the Red Sox are in trouble this year” or “I hear it’s hot in Phoenix in August” is not only a waste of time, it’s idiotic. I for one hate sports and can care less what the weather is like since I can’t do anything about it if I did find it unpleasant.

But wait, some might argue . . . I’m just trying to be “nice.” I say be “nice” on your own time. Before and after work. During work hours and especially when interrupting busy people, “nice” means something different. Not warm and fuzzy but fast and relevant.

Why do some people feel compelled to be nice? Perhaps it’s because they are “people” people and love to socialize. Perhaps they hate people and want to put up a front. Perhaps their idiot sales manager told them that getting people to like them is critical to success. I know many reps that are hugely successful and nobody ever accused them of being nice (many other things perhaps). They did however understand sales.
This fuzzy headed thinking carries over into all aspects of the sales process. Let’s look at opening statements when you are trying to get through to a decision maker and sell a presentation:

NICE: Hi, my name is Friendly Bob. Can I please talk to David Smith, unless he’s too busy, I wouldn’t want to interrupt him, and by the way I hear it’s cold in Alaska in the winter, is that true?, do you get a lot of polar bears?…

Prospect: We are pretty busy today, perhaps you can call back on September 15th 2056, that’s the day after I turn 65 and will retire. I am sure I’ll have time to chat for hours with you then.

Here is an example:

Peter Putz: Hi my name is Peter Putz with Acme Smelting and Web Design. We are having a special price on websites of only $499 instead of our usual $500…

Prospect: We aren’t interested, thanks anyway, CLICK (they hung up).

Nobody cares what your name is, what your product is, and what company you are with. They also could give a rat’s ass about a “special” price for something they don’t want. The approach above is typical of a telemarketing call center that hires low-level drones to read scripts all day. Or inside sales reps with no training who do what they guess sales reps are supposed to do.

Terry Toprep: I saw your website just now. I saw your competitors websites too. Yours is not keeping up with the changing times. Just look at Samson and Son’s, your major competitor down the street, their site is fantastic – great graphics, well-written copy, functional searching and quotation request forms. Yours just sits there.