Don’t you love having a chat with someone who leaves a lasting impression on you? You know, the kind of convo that makes you think, “Wow, I thoroughly enjoyed talking with that person.” Well, I’m willing to bet that you overlooked the reoccurring theme in these chats:
Think back to your last great conversation. Now ask yourself, who did most of the talking? Contrary to what you may remember, it’s most likely YOU who talked the most. Not them.
In general, a great conversationalist is usually not the dominant talker in the group. But rather it is the person who asks the questions, listens and responds intelligently to the topic.
They control the direction of the conversation with their questions. All while accurately and intelligently chiming in only when the chat warrants. Put in other words, they know when to add their two cents and when to keep quiet.
And this method unequivocally works because anyone with a pulse loves to talk about themselves and the stuff they are passionate about.
Trying This At Home
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Day in and day out, business owners, executives and sales teams struggle to compete for new business. Constantly approaching new companies and consumers begging for a sale. To assist in the search, marketing departments continual craft witty messages to attract buyers. But more times than not, the sales staff will never sell anything to these folks.
Beaten and depressed, most sales people move onto the next target. The entire time thinking that they lost the sale to their competition down the street. Never realizing that more likely, the prospect never bought from the competitor either.
Finding Your True Competition
B2B Example Scenario: I spent some time after college working as an account manager for a technology reseller. And in the beginning, the sales process was a shaky one. I would find myself with a sinking feeling in my gut every time I heard, “we decided to go another route, but thank you.” It was heart breaking, to say the least.
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Expos, chamber gatherings and other networking events will certainly leave you with pockets full of business cards. And I am assuming you cherish the business cards from the important contacts you met. But what about all of the cards from folks you may never intend on speaking to again? (i.e. an unrelated industry worker) What should a smart networker do with these contact cards?
Most people fail to do anything with seemingly undesirable business cards. Some may throw them away. While most others probably toss them in a drawer, only to throw them away five years later. And so it seems that most people never recognize the golden opportunity presented with all business cards: building a network. Shocking revelation, huh? Since this was your original intention of going to the networking event anyway, might as well do it correctly. Here’s my advice:
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To an entrepreneur, cold calling is a daily task. It’s inevitable. Sometimes, one phone call can determine your continued success as a business. With so much riding on these cold calls, why are so many entrepreneurs fearful of picking up the phone and asking for sales? Two words: The Gatekeeper! And depending on the self-importance of the decision maker sought by the call, you most likely will be hung–up on quicker than a 3 am collect call to an ex-partner. Yikes, no fun!
So what is an entrepreneur to do about an unrelenting gatekeeper?
I asked myself this question every time I was transferred to some generic voicemail or asked to leave a memo. And I have crafted the following helpful tips that have allowed me to successfully speak with whomever I choose. So without further ado, five tips to successfully get past gatekeepers:
1. Confidence is Key
Do you think a fellow CEO & golfing buddy uses the formal name of the intended call recipient when speaking with the gatekeeper? Or worse yet would they have a shaky, insecure voice? Absolutely not! So buckle up your confidence and ask for the decision maker like you are old college chums… it works!
2. Have a Solid Reason
Sorry to break it to you but no gatekeeper cares what you have to sell. But they do care about a benefit that may help the company. So have a good reason for your call. And it may be as simple as “The reason for my call is that I was hoping to introduce myself to X as I’m the founder of Y as we offer product Z, which has resulted in an average return on investment of 200% for our current client’s manufacturing operation.” Or something similar.
3. Avoid the “I’ll take a message for you” Trap
Message taking is a great trick gatekeepers use for keeping unwanted sales people out. And unless it’s a message about a sick family member, there is a slim to none chance the decision maker will ever receive your memo. To combat this trap [click to continue…]
