“Hi is that Martyn?”
“Yes”
“It’s James from (Organisation) I’m calling to let you know about the offer we have at the moment for membership. We’re waiving our joining fee this month.”
“I appreciate your call James but it’s not something I’m considering at the moment, thanks for your call though.”
This was exactly how a telesales call that I received recently went. It was a very short conversation! It could have gone differently if James had used a different approach. He was calling about me joining a business organisation.
There are a few things James needs help with:
- The reason I answered is because I had a call scheduled from a company with a sales training requirement and I thought it might be them. As soon as I realised it wasn’t, my immediate reaction was “how do I get you off the phone so I can be on the call I really need to be on?”
- Although I knew the organisation he was calling from he led with a discount price offer, so do businesses only join if it’s cheap enough? In which case what’s the quality of the organisation and benefits like?
- He did no research about my business- a fantastic sales training consultancy! He didn’t even reference it when he spoke to me. I’m really proud of the name Gold Dust Training and there’s a story behind how it got the name too. Most business owners consider their company to be their baby!
- He didn’t time condition me. A simple courtesy like: “Have you got a couple of minutes…” The call was an unexpected interruption and my curiosity factor went from 10/10 to 0/10 in a few seconds. Even if he was offering free membership I would not have continued the call because I needed to speak to my client.
- Unfortunately he sounded nervous, lacking confidence, if he doesn’t believe what he’s doing and is passionate about it how will others be, did he actually want to be making these calls?
Here is what he could have said:
“Hello Martyn, this is James from (organisation) our members are businesses which could be a good potential audience for your sales training and coaching. Have you got a few minutes to find out if our membership offer would be useful for Gold Dust Training?”
This opening statement takes 10 seconds to say and delivers a piece of value in each sentence: “our members are businesses which could be a good potential audience for your sales training and coaching.”
It implies there is a potential market for my Sales Training & Coaching. I’m curious!
Plus: “find out if our membership offer would be useful for Gold Dust Training?” Good because this implies I have a choice and there is a potential offer to entice me. Provided the value is built!
And there is a permission to continue statement: “have you got a few minutes?”
The fact that it’s short allows for quick interaction from the recipient. If it’s convenient to talk, we can continue. If it’s not, we can schedule a later phone appointment with a commitment to continue the conversation.
What would be really great too would be for James to connect with me on LinkedIn to build our relationship. Imagine if he read this blog too and decided to call me back!
Think about how you can communicate value as quickly as possible to your audience and why they should listen. This will increase your chances of continuing the conversation if you would like further help please get in touch on 07580894232 or email martyn@golddusttraining.co.uk
