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On
the phone you have about 10 seconds or less to capture a listener's attention,
break their preoccupation with whatever they were doing when you called, and
place them in a positive, receptive frame of mind to share information with you
and listen with an open mind. Therefore, you don't want to muddy up your call
with wasted words, or meaningless words. Here are some that are
overused, and really are meaningless at the beginning of a call. -"cost-effective",
as in, "We provide cost-effective products." -"leading",
or "premier," as in, "We're the leading company in this
field." Saying that without substantiation begs the question, "Says
who? You?" -"solution
provider, as in, "We're a solution provider." -"meet
your needs, as in, "I'd like to discuss how we can meet your needs." Here's
an opening that I'm sure someone, somewhere is probably using: "Ms.
Prospect, Josh Verbose with E-Commerce Applications.
We're the premier solution provider of cost-effective e-commerce systems.
We help companies by facilitating their migration into electronic marketing by
leveraging their options to meet their e-commerce needs." Huh? I
received a call similar to the following the other day. Not only did the guy's
monotone sound like he just arose out of bed with a stinging hangover, he
slurred the unemotional pronunciation of words: "Art,
this is Joe Collins with Data International. We're the most respected provider
of data funneling (or something like that--I had never heard the term before).
We work with the IBM's, AT&T's ...," and the guy went on for at least
90 seconds, nonstop, with his droning. I was not a prospect, and even if I were,
I wouldn't have been interested based on this opening. Here
are a couple of fundamental ideas to keep in mind before and during your calls. -Know
who you're talking to, both company and position-wise. This guy was clearly in
the wrong place. To avoid wasted time, energy, and resistance he could have
simply said to my assistant, "I want to be sure that what I have would be
of some interest for your company. Please tell me ...," followed by some
qualifying questions. -Use clear terminology to quickly create interest. Let me say this slowly: you have just several seconds to create interest at the beginning of a call. You do this by alluding to what you might be able to do for them, and then asking a question. So be simple with the hint of the result you could possibly provide. For
example: "Art,
depending on how you're using your existing list of customers, we might have a
way to help you get two or three times the amount of repeat business you're
doing now. I'd like to ask a few questions to see if it would make sense for us
to speak further." Along
the same lines, avoid stilted words when simpler ones will do. An article in a
recent issue of Sales and Marketing Management magazine suggested ... -"use"
instead of "utilize" -"talk"
instead of "have a dialogue" -"help"
instead of "facilitate" Examine
your own language, both in your openings, and in all parts of your call. Are you
creating resistance instead of interest? If so, change it today. |
