42 Rules of Cold Calling Executives by Mari Anne Vanella

Author:Mari Anne Vanella
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Super Star Press
Published: 2012-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Rule 20

Put Yourself in Their Shoes

It’s easier to lead prospects where you want them to go when you understand where they are.

Try to understand where your prospect is coming from. Remember that everyone you are trying to contact is receiving many other calls and voicemails from people just like you. You have a small window to get a prospect’s attention and continue the discussion.

While the prospect may eventually be convinced that the product or service you are offering is important, initially, your call is not a pressing matter to a prospect. It will take time to build credibility, and the way to do it is to discuss something your prospect can understand and connect with right away.

Go into an initial conversation with several things at your fingertips:

• Your prospect’s role within the company (perhaps based on their title)

• The prospect’s line of business

• Solutions/services applicable to the business

• Likely requirements and challenges of the business

Having this information readily available will lead to a productive discussion instead of the typical push and shove of a cold call. One way to make a connection with your prospect is to talk about referenceable companies. Companies are always interested in keeping track of what competitors are doing. Nationwide Insurance, for example, would be more interested in MetLife’s business practices rather than Kroger’s.

Be sure to pay attention when the prospect provides specifics on how to engage with its company; otherwise you may create resistance where there wasn’t any. I once spoke with the CIO of a large company who was genuinely interested in bringing our client on board. His company was going to make some big changes in its retail systems and my client would be able to participate as a vendor. The prospect told me that he would be prepared to put a meeting together after he finished wrapping up some current projects. There would be no way that he could give attention to the matter for another three weeks. We suggested an earlier engagement, but it just wasn’t possible, considering his workload.

We briefed our client on the conversation with the prospect, including his three-week timeframe. However, one of the client’s internal sales reps actually called the guy two days later thinking they would push it, totally disregarding the request that the CIO had made. The CIO was annoyed, which was a logical response. The rep was disappointed that the CIO and company wouldn’t talk with him and blamed us, but what did the rep expect? The CIO was clear about how this rep was to engage with him and had already committed to bringing my client in the deal.

Listen carefully to what prospects tell you. Make sure you understand their needs regarding the progress of your dialogue and then stay in alignment with their expectations.

Do you pay close attention to information you have about a prospect’s needs and wishes?

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