Are you still calling prospects to set up appointments? Just calling? Well, every other salesperson is doing the same exact thing! If you want the prospect to believe that you and your company are different from the competition, then you must prove it to them from the beginning. First impressions are lasting; so make sure it’s a good one!
Calling your prospects is only one of the many resources you have for establishing contact with them and setting up the appointment. It’s also the method most likely to leave the worst impression on your prospect. When you call, you are assuming that you are important enough for your prospect to stop whatever they’re doing at that moment just so you can try to sell them something. Get over yourself; they don’t want to talk to you.
This doesn’t mean you should stop calling your prospects, it just means that you should stop relying on this method to gain that appointment. If you want to successfully intrigue your prospect, you must learn to match the right message with a variety of mediums. Use your imagination! Think of some creative ways to get in front of your prospects and grab their attention.
Your initial contact with your prospect should show that you are creative, persistent, and that talking to you is worth their time. Have the courage to try something fun and new with your prospects. If you feel scared to come out of your comfort zone, think about this: if your boring method isn’t working with them now, don’t you think it’s time to try something new?
Customers don’t care about you; they care about themselves, so give them something they’ll enjoy or can actually use. Try sending them sales leads, fax them a joke, or create a customized document with creative business ideas and solutions that your client can use to become more productive and profitable. Prospects want to read about themselves and how they can get better results. This kind of result-based approach will stand out among the other stuff your prospect receives.
No matter what you try, some prospects may simply try to wait you out. They will ignore your voicemails and e-mails, and wait for you to get bored and go away. You must have the longevity to remain pleasantly persistent with your prospects or you will never win the appointment or the sale.
The only thing separating you from your competition is your ability to decide that you are going to win. You will get the appointment with the prospect because you have the creativity to stand out and the determination to remain pleasantly persistent! Being pleasantly persistent means that you are NEVER annoying or pushy and that you will apparently NEVER go away.
So how do you remain persistent without seeming pushy? Make them your friend before you try to make them your customer. Send your prospects personalized e-mails or handwritten notes to set the tone for the transaction. Regardless of your company, your product, or the nature of your situation, you should always make your contact with your clients as personal as possible. In today’s high-tech world, people are starving for personal attention, and your effort to contact them in this manner will show them how important their business is to you.
This sets the tone for your relationship, and your relationship sets the tone for the sale.
Throughout this entire process, keep a clear objective in mind. See your transaction as a series of goals. Sure, you may want that appointment, but first you must work on getting your prospect to pick up the phone and call you, or finally take your call. Representing your good ideas creatively, personally, and persistently will not only get the appointment, it will get you the SALE!
Tom Richard conducts seminars on sales and customer service topics nationwide. Tom is also the author of Smart Salespeople Don’t Advertise: 10 Ways to Outsmart Your Competition With Guerilla Marketing, and publishes a free weekly ezine on selling skills titled Sales Muscle. To subscribe to this free weekly ezine go to http://www.tomrichard.com/subscribe
