B2B sales appointments discovery calls sales & Phone Scripts

Scott Channell

Sales Reminders Often More Help Than Sales Instruction

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Most sales teams are capable of far greater results without learning one new thing.

Most sales managers are sitting on strategies that would jump sales results.
Most salespeople are not doing half the things they know must be done to earn to potential.

Simply reminding teams, managers and salespeople of things they already know to do, often helps more than trying to pile on more good ideas or better sales techniques.

What good will learning new things do when so much that is already known goes unused.

Here is a contrarian tip for the fastest jump-start of new business in 2016.
Don’t seek to learn new things. Simply remind yourself of the important things you already know you must do, must use and must stop. Focus on those things first for fastest results.

What are sales team sitting on that are better than new ideas?

Stories and impact verbiage: Sad but true fact. Most salespeople and teams I work with have great success stories to tell, yet are not telling them. Have great credibility in the marketplace yet say nothing to communicate this. Have significant benefits clients want yet fail to mention them to new prospects.

Remember all those great things your clients appreciate? How about the examples of value you have created or problems solved? And all those things you could say about how credible you are… the number of accounts, the companies that work with you, the results you get… are you working enough of those things into your prospecting process and initial meetings? Many are not.

Refining where prospecting and sales time goes: All prospects and potential clients are not created equal. Rather than dump more leads into your prospecting or sales funnel take inventory of what you already have and prioritize.

Sad but true fact in salesland. Most teams and salespeople are not selling to potential for lack of effort or sales skills. The major culprit of working way too hard for far too little is misallocation of time to lower-probability lower-worth accounts.

Sadder still is the fact with just a few hours of effort, a few hours, you could be reminded of those pockets which include a disproportionate volume of great clients and revenue. Here is an example and it is not unusual. Worked with a team where 50% of the best accounts were found within just 3% of the potential sales universe. Was that 3% defined and prioritized? No it wasn’t. So much of it was going uncalled and sitting dormant while the less worthy and unworthy were being showered with love and attention. Sometimes you just need to be reminded where your best sources of business are.

Before you start throwing more new ideas and strategies onto the log pile, utilize and solidify what you already know.

Sales results arise from solid sales foundations. For best results solidify your foundation before you seek to build upon it. Focus on what you already know you should be doing. Spend a little time to focus your efforts where it will do the most good. Start incorporating the great stories, result examples, credibility statements and major benefits you provide into your prospecting scripts and sales meetings.

Remind yourself of what you already know needs to be done and do those things first.
That will solidify your foundation and provide the best springboard for new initiatives and strategies at a later date.

Phone Script Audit Checklist-15 Sales Script Factors to Boost Discovery Calls and B2B Appointment Setting

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Before I started sales coaching, I worked the phones to book more than 2,000+ C-Level appointments in diverse industries. That experience, and working with sales teams over many years, has identified several problems with sales scripts that prevent them from being as effective as they could be. Thought it would be helpful to provide a list of major factors to review when seeking to punch up phone script effectiveness.

1. Absolute clarity about “what you do.”
If qualified prospects cannot instantly grasp “what you do” they can’t decide if you can help them. Miss this point and they don’t pay attention to whatever else you say.

2. Why are you a better option than a google search?
People who are going to write a check to you or one of your competitors have options. They can easily find and pick those they deem worthy of their time. If you are not perceived to be “top tier” and better than an option they could find themselves, you will not get a meeting.

3. Do you include hype words?
Cold prospects do not know you. When you throw around words like “best,” “superior,” “#1” or make exaggerated promises, they don’t have enough information to agree or disagree with you, so they drastically discount what you say.

4. Do you use specifics, numbers and facts?
Numbers, client names, truthful representative results. Specifics, which you can later back up, paint a picture for a prospect as to your credibility.

5. Does the script refer to “bottom line benefits” delivered?
Does your script appeal to benefits that matter? Employee productivity, margin, profits, client retention, net new clients and other bottom line type benefits speak to core needs.

6. Are the benefits you offer better use of resources than the other 20 “good ideas” competing for their time and money?
It is not enough to be “better.” Top decision makers have many competing interests for their time. You must be a better investment of time than all the other options on their plate.

7. Do you sound like all the rest?
Do you make it easy for them to lump you in with the idiots? If you say what so many others that have wasted their time say, guess what? You are done. Approach prospects in a fresh way.

8. Are you a peer?
You don’t have to be a CEO to be a valuable resource to a CEO. Neither do you need the same depth of knowledge of those you speak to? As to the issue of whether it is a reasonable use of time for a CEO, VP or check writer to meet with you or a representative of your company, as to that issue, you should speak as a peer.

9. Are you worth their time, even if they don’t do business with you?
Do you convey a value which will be delivered at the first meeting or during the discovery call, that is worth their time, even if they do not do business with you?

10. Do your script paths identify those that won’t meet now, but will write a check to a competitor within 15 months?
Very very important. If you are setting discovery calls, you are probably offering something that companies do not buy or change vendors for very often. Even if you are doing everything right, with long sales cycle sales, the odds of you bumping into someone at exactly the right time is minimal. When prospects say “no,” do you have a plan to identify those that will write checks to competitors shortly?

11. Do your scripts try to sell the meeting, your service or both?
Your scripts can attempt to sell a meeting or your service. But not both. Stay focused on selling meetings, and you get more chances to sell your service. Move beyond that to try to sell your service, and you will sell fewer meetings.

12. Do your scripts appeal to those who already recognize a need?
Appointment setting and prospecting are not about appointment setting and prospecting. It’s all about net new clients and closing deals. Don’t offer a scratch to those that don’t feel an itch. You won’t get far.

13. Are your scripts based upon a “pile of words?”
Many hard working companies and reps will invest hundreds if not thousands of hours using scripts which inadequately communicate their value, credibility and benefits delivered. Insanity. Have your brainstormed the best verbiage to use to communicate your message? Is each component part of your scripts as impactful as can be?

14. Do your scripts give qualified prospects sufficient reason to listen to just a little bit more?
Qualified prospects don’t know you. They have been burned too many times. They are primed to knee-jerk reject you. Even if they have a need, you can solve, and you would be the vendor offering the most value, they are primed to knee-jerk reject you, as they don’t know that yet. Do your scripts in the first crucial 7 seconds make them choke on “we are all set” and keep them listening? In the end, do they feel meeting with you would be worth their time, even if they don’t do business with you?

15. Are your scripts 100% focused on “buyers?”
Some scripts seem to be more focused on having more comfortable conversations with non-buyers, than being focused on enabling “buyers,” those that recognize a need and will write a check to you or a competitor within 15 months, to conclude that you are worth a meeting. When a prospect says “Hello,” your scripts must assume they are buyers and say the things buyers need to hear to conclude that you are worth more time.

16. Bonus Tip. Good scripting is only 25% of the reason why your appointment setting or setting discovery calls program will be successful.
Contrary to popular opinion, good scripts alone cannot get you enough discovery calls. Your scripting is part of an overall effective system. List priorities, coding and segmentation, prospecting velocity, efficiency, call process, knowing when to let go and other factors determine whether you are working an overall process that will deliver more appointment setting or setting discovery call results. Your scripts are just one part of that process.

Good sales scripts will not save you if you are not working a system or your system stinks.

6 Keys to Sales Script Cold Call Opening Line

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SALES SCRIPT EXAMPLE USED BY COLD CALL DOOR TO DOOR CANVASSERS IS INSTRUCTIVE… as to what NOT to do.

Hi, I’m Mike, this is Frank from didn’tgetthename company, we have an alternative to UPS that saves money….

A bad, bad opening cold call line THAT CREATES THE VERY RESPONSE THEY WISH TO AVOID.

Read a much better opening line below with the 6 keys to an effective cold call opening line.

Two office to office canvassers walked into my office unannounced. Two young men all spiffed up in suits and playing the role. I was at my desk focusing on a project and they approached with big fake smiles looking like the shrink wrap had just been taken off them.

They started with the line above and I shut them down. They left. If that opening was part of a prepared sales script, it’s doubtful they had much cold call success.

Let’s evaluate what sales script structure they could have used on this cold call that would have given them a much greater chance of success.

First, the scenario. They walk into an office unannounced and approach someone that is busy. That should be a normal scenario for them. Anybody worth talking to is busy. That is reality. So what.

As they walked through the outer office towards me (my assistant was out) their appearance put me on guard and predisposed me to getting rid of them firmly. Their polished appearance and insincere wide smiles telegraphed to me “hard sell” and “waste of time.” I was ready for them before they even started talking.

The words they spoke cemented my desire to get rid of them. A desire they created and strengthened.

They said “… we have an alternative to UPS…” My immediate thought? Great. This one is easy. We don’t use UPS. I don’t need them. Bye bye.

What sales script structure and door to door sales techniques might have given them a much greater chance of success?

Here is what I would have recommended.

1. Only one person should have approached me initially. My resolve to reject them was strengthened by being cold call ambushed by two. Plus, the 2nd person seemed to be a trainee, with I assume, little to offer. Don’t put those thoughts in my head.

2. The one person who approached me should have toned it down a bit. If the jacket was off, the pace was slower, if the face seemed a little more sincere or real, I would have been more relaxed and not predisposed to battle. Make it easy for people to be at ease with you. This is more common sense than revelatory sales technique.

3. Their opening line was terrible and made it easy for me to reject them. I was ready to reject them and they made it easy for me to do so with their opening. If this was a prepared sales script it was bad. If they were winging it, that is worse.

They said:

“Hi, I’m Mike, this is Frank from didn’tgetthename company, we have an alternative to UPS that saves money…”

My suggestion would have been something like this:

“Hi, I’m Mike from Amalgamated. Could I share with you a shipping option used by 137 local businesses and 30,000 nationwide? I appreciate your time and will only take a moment.”

As to delivery, the tone would be soft, understated, sincere and courteous.

1st key: “share with you a shipping option.” This is purposely a broader approach that doesn’t enable qualified prospects to conclude “that is not for me.”

2nd key: “Share” can mean a few things and is soft language. The words and sales script is not limiting the conversation.

3rd key: Say the company name clearly. In their pitch I didn’t grasp the name of the company. So rather than concentrate on what they are saying next, I’m thinking “From where? What did he say?” Their poor delivery of the words lost me.

4th key: “…137 local businesses and 30,000 nationwide.” Credibility, credibility, credibility. If you are going to have any shot at cold call success your sales script must convey credibility. If I chat a bit, I need to know that I am not wasting my time with a non-credible company. If I was a candidate for their service, I need to know at least that there is a possibility that I would consider them. Those specifics tell me that maybe, maybe, they might have something.

5th key: What cemented in my mind that they were two clueless idiots sure to waste my time? Their reference to saving money. That was the worst thing they could have brought up and least important to me. Of course, they know nothing about what we spend so their credibility immediately plunged in my mind. Also, that is the least important factor to me. Shaving a few pesos off a budget item which isn’t on my radar doesn’t interest me. Now if they had mentioned convenience factors, tracking options, customer notification and satisfaction options, saving admin time and a few other things, my ears might have perked up. But saving money. If that was the best thing they could say up-front they obviously had no clue what really mattered to their decision-makers. Bye bye.

5th key: A low-key approach combined with sincere appreciation of some time and requesting only a moment. Common decency and a great door to door sales technique. If I was willing to entertain a new shipping option now or maybe just listen to what they have… and I was balancing between “do I listen” and “do I not,” that ending may make the difference and get them a few moments and lead to a longer interaction. I am sensing a possible benefit, not sensing a risk and am more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt and a few moments. What the heck?

All of the above in my opinion would have given them a much greater chance of some additional time. If they got it, they would follow with a bit more expansive statement of benefits and some questions that would lead to a more in-depth interaction with the following possible results.

An account now.

An account later.

A referral now.

A referral later.

A suspect crossed off the list.

They could have been working with a cold calling script that worked, rather than scaring people away.

Words matter. The words you use should be crafted to give you the best shot of getting to the next step of your process. If you are ineffective at any step you are out of the game or building on a weak foundation.

If you understand what you are trying to achieve with each component part of your interactions and how your words influence the result, you have the best chance of selecting the words that will earn you the next step.

Hope this sales script example gets you thinking.

Scott Channell

16 B2B Cold Calling Contrarian Truths: Get It Right by Knowing What Most Get Wrong

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If you or your team excel at setting B2B discovery calls,
there are things you know and do,
that are not accepted or done,
by those working much harder for much less results.

These are cold calling contrarian truths,
accepted by top peformers,
but shrugged off by mediocre and bottom of the pack callers.

1. Top Sales Achievers Do What Works, Even If it is Uncomfortable, inconvenient or against what the great unwashed “know” to be true.

The top sales producers do what works. No matter whether it is accepted by most, comfortable for them, they want to do or they really really really want to find prospecting success another way.

Guess what? Cold Calling for Appointments is not rocket science. Not easy, but not rocket science either.

If you cling to the fantasy that you are different, your industry is different, your customers would not respond to those strategies… do it your way, and keep banging your head against the wall.

2. Top Appointment setters do not make the most calls.

If you think more activity will save you, you probably don’t even know the right questions to ask, never mind the answers to how to set more appointments with perfect prospects when they are actively seeking to buy.

You can stir a pot faster and faster of lousy script verbiage, non-existent call process and lousy lists but it won’t change what you have.

The most successful appointment setters generate qualified leads in a steady stream. But they don’t make the most dials. You have to make enough calls to be in the zone, but “more dials” is never the reason for call success when other factors are not present.

Making more dials when you have few conversations or convert too few to appointments rarely makes the difference. Once you are in a reasonable range of dials, improving on those other 2 areas, having more conversations, converting more conversations to appointments, typically will get more drastically improved results. Improving on those things involves some strategic thinking, knowledge of the sales and marketing principles that drive success, preparation and practice, not “more dials.”

3. This game is more about disqualifying sales leads than it is about qualifying.

You got that right. Disqualifying. Up front, quickly, no benefit of the doubt, ruthlessly and with certainty, is far more important to accelerate sales ramp up.. The goal is not to make excuses and conjure up reasons to keep the weak and hopeless alive. There is no Heimlich maneuver in sales prospecting, no mouth to mouth, no chest compressions. The best appointment setters and sales closers identify and kill the weak. ASAP.

Those who are best at finding gold are best at identifying what is not gold. Deciding whom NOT to call, whom NOT to call again, who NOT to meet with is critical. Get good at not wasting your time and guess what… you spend a lot more time with worthwhile prospects.

Reality is that most b2b sales staff and team members are dealing with a long sales cycle. Sales cycles of six months to two years are not uncommon for a business to business sales rep. That is a different situation than b2c. Top b2b sales producers are very good and have the guts to identify and properly slot those that are not worth the sales effort right now.

4. Giving up is very important. Sales People Must Know When to Move On.

You think you will win this game by initiative and effort? Call call call and then call again. You are wrong. Big mistake made commonly is to continue to invest time well past the point of diminishing returns. Work a plan. Work a process. When you reach the end of the plan, let go.

5. Don’t Pay Attention to What They Tell You. It is usually not literally true.

This one is a little tricky. I guess what I am trying to say is don’t listen literally to what a potential customer or account says. Many, who tell you they are “all set,” “want info” or a call back are not giving you an accurate picture of the situation. If you at that moment do what they say, you will be losing many opportunities. You must have responses to these common forms of resistance so that you can uncover the accurate story and get the meeting now when possible. When you hear objections like those above a calculated response will get you a meeting now about 25% of the time.

6. Gatekeepers and Sales Influencers Are Much More Willing to Give you what they think is UNimportant to you.

This is kind of stupid but true. On the phone, if you come right out and ask for something… qualifying info, direct dial, extension number… gatekeepers will keep the cookies in the bag. Yet, if they think the same info is unimportant to you, they give it much more freely.

Use the “Columbo” strategy. Ask for what you really want after the fact. Your first request you don’t really need, it’s the afterthought you just remembered as they were about to hang up or transfer you that you really wanted. I find I can get qualifying info and info that makes it much easier to get someone to pick up the phone when using this “Columbo” technique.

7. Many, who tell you they are “all set,” will in fact buy from a competitor within 2 – 12 months.

Happens too often. Someone who swears satisfaction, no money, no interest, no need and no time is called back six months later and guess what? Just signed a million-dollar contract for products and services they had sworn they didn’t need. And with a lousy competitor to boot. Too late.

If you are a b2b service provider reality is that if it is cost effective to cold call and set appointments that most of your targets don’t buy or change vendors often. It’s more like every two or four years, maybe. In a business to business sales environment you are far more likely to interact with someone when they are not in active buying mode. You must have phone script strategies to flush out those that will have a need in the near future. If you don’t, you are doing all the work to run 99 yards to the goal line but stopping on the one-yard line with no one in sight. (I hate sports analogies.)

Use model responses to resistance and quick probing questions to ID those opportunities after they say “no, no, no.”

8. Lead Generation Success has much to do about basic management, being setup properly and working efficiently.

Your sales manager, or, if you are managing yourself, your own self management efforts matter most at the beginning phases of the sales process. What you do early on has the most impact on ultimately closing a deal.
Why would someone torture themselves prospecting for 5 – 10 – 20 hours weekly using a paper system or an excel spreadsheet trying to set appointments and getting little but headaches, but won’t spend the one time 3 – 5 hours it takes to get properly setup to work at maximum efficiency all the time. Productivity doubles with this one step. No joke.

You wouldn’t go swimming with weights tied around your waist, ankles and neck. Yet, when you prospect without being setup properly, which takes very little time compared to the time and torture you will invest in calling, you doom yourself to failure. You just can’t move fast enough to survive.

Spend just a little time to make sure you have the basics in place first, then build from there. List selection, contact manager setup, basic script paths, a call process, an automated follow-up system, just getting the basics right in these key areas greatly increases the odds of your success. Without them, you are doomed.

Manager yourself properly by being setup with the basics from the beginning. That has far more impact on your closing than “magic words” used on poorly qualified prospects when you are desperate to make any deal.

9. Most call lists that are far too large for available time and resources.

Pull down a call list many times larger than you or your sales team can call and you guarantee wasted time, inefficiency, poor targeting and calling frustration. Heed this b2b sales tip at your peril.

The most common result by far of failed sales campaigns is too much time spent on lower probability targets. You don’t get more results by downloading 25,000 records (see it all the time) when your sales team can at max call 3,000 in the next six months. Those records degrade every month. Plus, managers usually pull down far too many records because they don’t know how to prioritize the call universe.
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They won’t spend the few hours, or simply don’t know how to generate a qualified list, yet expect results when 80% or more of sales time is spent talking to totally unqualified suspects. I see this often and the good people always flee these environments.

10. Lack of sales script preparation.

You only tend to hear 5-7 things on the phone over and over again with b2b lead generation, yet many have not completely thought out the best response. You kill yourself to get a conversation. To not have a tightly worded powerful response ready is self-defeating. Those who “wing it” every time thinking they sound more conversational are deluding themselves.

11. How many people answer their phones only to tell you they are in a very important meeting and can’t talk, but will schedule a meeting with you, if you know what to say.

Happens all the time in business to business sales. People answer the phone to whisper that they can’t talk to you because they are in a meeting. Your first thought? Well, why did you pick up the phone from an unknown number knucklehead? But you don’t ask. It’s tough to get a prospect that meets your best account profile to pick up the phone. Don’t retreat to wimp mode. “Um, OK. Sorry. Click” Prepare for this moment and you will be surprised how many appointments and worthwhile follow-up calls you can get.

12. You can’t model behaviors and beliefs of those that set too few sales appointments, yet expect drastically different results.

Albert Einstein is credited with saying “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

Yup. So why would an ambitious salesperson study the collective judgment of the mediocre, the struggling, those that are not top producers, those that abandon their plan every time they hear about a “fresh strategy” or a “new rule of selling” are doomed to forever tread water?

Why would someone buy into the sales thinking of that group and say “Now there is my ticket to sales success!”Makes no sense but it’s the modus operandi of far too many salespeople.

Identify and model the prospecting behaviors of those that have actually done what you seek to do. Whether you like it, want to do it, it is uncomfortable or not. Do it. You will get comfortable when you start making more money.

13. You are interrupting and are going to annoy people. Get over it.

The same verbiage and sales script paths and responses to objections and gatekeeper interactions, that are welcomed by many and lead to maximum conversion to happy satisfied accounts, that same verbiage and approach will be an unwelcome interruption and annoyance to those with no need.

Non-buyers will always be annoyed by something they are not interested in. Of course. Worry only about your message to the buyers and communicate well with them. Totally ignore those who are annoyed.

Your main objective should always be to maximize your reach to qualified buyers and have something worthwhile to say to them when you do. The first 3 seconds and the first 30 seconds are most important to that conversation.

When someone with a need and authority to buy picks up the phone (and of course you don’t know that when you hear “Hello.”) be clear, direct, specific and say something that is meaningful to the prospect and enables them to understand you are credible and can help them. Enable them to quickly “get it”and let them say “yes” or “no.”  That respects the time of your prospect.

In my humble opinion, those that drop to their knees to beg and start with “Hi, how are you?” “Have you got a minute?” “I know you are busy and will only take moment.” “I am not worthy, I am not worthy.” They are the ones that annoy the most as they suck up time and say nothing that is helpful to the prospect.

14. There are far more good profitable accounts within the group you speak to but won’t meet, then there is in the group you meet with.

Think hard about this b2b marketing truth. There is far more great profitable business within the group that you speak to yet initially refuse your offer to meet, than you will close from those that agree to meet.

There is far more gold just below the surface of those that agree to meet with you, than you will skim from the top. Most of you reading this are dealing with long sales cycles. It makes perfect sense that the odds of you bumping into someone at exactly the perfect time to sell is low. Yet many of those you speak to will buy from someone else in the foreseeable future.

If your response to someone that says “no” to your request to meet is to ask if you can call back in three months to check in, you should admit that you are clueless and change your approach. You must have script strategies to identify those that have needs and will soon change vendors or buy from another.

15. “Cold calling is a waste of time” is simply not true.

I teach phone prospecting but I don’t love it. I set 2,000+ C-Level sales appointments and it was work, not fun. Appointment setting is usually equated with cold calling but many set appointments with existing accounts, dormant accounts, referral sources and those that have been referred. Core B2B appointment setting success behaviors are the same whether the call is cold, warm or hot.

Appointment setting, cold, warm or hot, is just a marketing tool. Like any business to business marketing or sales tool, use it when it makes sense for you to use it. If you have better tools, use them. If you do decide to appointment set, then do it right. With B2B sales cold calling and appointment setting, like any tool, used correctly in the right places it gets results. Used Incorrectly in the wrong places… it doesn’t. I have seen businesses turn around and lives change using this tool. To arbitrarily dismiss it in all circumstances seems foolish to me.

16. Not allocating your time to the best quality pool of suspects is the biggest mistake I see.

If there are a lot of things not right about your appointment setting process and all you did was start calling and zeroing in your highest probability suspects, you would immediately see lead generation results improve. You could continue with your lousy scripts and poor call process, yet just interacting with a higher quality pool of sales prospects can deliver an immediate jump in qualified opportunities.

Remember this. No matter what else you are doing right with your appointment setting and cold calling, if you have not prioritized and focused your efforts on your highest probability prospects, you are doomed. Don’t care how good your phone scripts are or how adept you are with your CRM. You are doomed.

Example: You only have time to call and follow-up on 50 new suspects weekly. You can identify 1,000 suspects who look like your best clients. You can identify 20,000 suspects who fit the profile of your average, low volume, little profit accounts. It is mind boggling to me how many salespeople, who could choose to spend 100% of their prospecting time talking to suspects with a high probability of being good accounts, will slog through calling all the rest saying “I don’t want to miss anyone.”

It makes no sense.

Well, there are a lot of crazy things that happen out there in sales prospecting land.

Go get em.

12 Core Discovery Call Keys To Get The Close

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Here are some core concepts to execute a discovery call so as to maximize closing ratios.

For many years all I did was help companies SELL THE MEETING and schedule qualified discovery calls and first sales appointments. Eventually companies asked for help in choreographing (my words) the first meeting/discovery call to get more leads deeper into the pipeline and ultimately to a close.

The two most common complaints were 1) that “perfect prospects” were going nowhere after “great meetings” and 2) that prospects were vaporizing in the middle of the pipeline.

When you are crafting an appointment setting script you have a 3-5 minute interaction to plan for.
With a discovery call,  you need to prepare for a 15-60 minute interaction with many variables flying and the clock ticking.

Here are 12, of what I believe to be the keys, to conducting a discovery call so that you solidify the next step on the road to a close.

  1. The 2% difference gets us the close.

You must extract from the buyer motivations sufficient to overcome the tendency to do nothing. When a perfect prospect decides, will you be 2% better than the competition or doing nothing.

  1. The specifics that will earn us the close are extracted upfront.

You must extract the details from potential buyers that will provide that 2% difference.
You must have a sense of what to extract and whether it will be enough at decision time.

  1. 3. Proposals should be confirmations, not explorations.

Proposals are not fishing expeditions. They should confirm key points already discussed, not explore whether something is acceptable.

  1. Perfect prospects are ranking you against competitors and the status quo.

Are you contrasting your solution results so that perfect prospects can clearly weigh them against other options? If they can’t clearly see the difference, bye bye close.

  1. Are you prepared to showcase your strengths.

What specifics, stories, and examples are you going to communicate and when? You have limited time to get it done.

  1. How will you minimize weaknesses.

“Head off at the pass” the most common causes of doubt about moving forward. Remember, any lingering doubt on issues equates to a no close. Deal with them.

  1. Top closers prepare questions; the rest prepare presentations.

If you believe that obtaining a new account is determined by slight differences brought to the surface, those differences are uncovered with a purposeful plan. We are not talking about the lay-ups here, those that are a perfect fit for us, immediately see our value and cannot wait to sign. Nor are we talking about the tire-kickers and price shoppers. Nothing we say will make a difference and we do not want them. We need to sway those in the middle, that are dissatisfied on some level with their current situation and are trying to decide whether to go with someone else or stick with the devil they know. Focus on the middle group.

  1. The clock is ticking.

You have 15? 30? 45 minutes? to cement the next step toward a close. Are you winging it or properly prepared to make maximum use of that limited time?

  1. We close on the details.

We must extract the details which will get us to close. We must constantly ask ourselves “Will the details and specifics I am extracting be sufficient to overcome the urge to do nothing or work with a competitor?”

  1. Competing against not only other competitors but all the project options on the manager’s plate.

You might end up being a superior option, but if a manager perceives that the change is not worth the effort as compared to all the other things they may do with their time and money, you won’t get the account. Being a superior option is not enough. Your bottom line benefit must be bigger than what other projects would bring.

  1. Do not be “deselected.”

Do not say anything that could get you knocked out of the Box.

Why Is Prospecting So Hard? And… Tale of Held Back Caller

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How can it be that sales prospecting is relatively easy, steady and fairly predictable for some, yet for others, the equivalent of ripping out your own fingernails?

The answer to this question is more important in these covid times as the ability to find buyers can determine whether you pick up market share or fall to mediocrity, even ruin.

Over my 25 year career I have heard many companies say “that wasn’t so bad” as they moved from mediocrity to top tier of prospecting results. But for others, in very similar situations, every step seems excruciatingly hard and progress, if obtained at all, is short-lived while they drift back to old, failed practices.

A Tough Love Question: Are You Making It Harder Than It Has to Be?

Below are 4 criteria to help you answer that question.
But first, an example of what happens when you make it harder than it has to be.
Spoke to a very capable appointment setter recently lamenting how hard it was to book appointments. I knew from speaking to her she was capable. Why was she not getting at least average results? Plus, her company had many territories that had very successful lead gen teams that did not find it difficult at all. So why was her territory struggling?

Knowing that other divisions did not have problems (I had worked with a number of them,) I asked a few questions.

Who are you targeting? Answer: Companies found on Chambers of Commerce lists, internet searches and whatever they can find. Yikes! The successful divisions found 50% of their good business came from just 3% of all companies. They were calling the phone book rather than focusing on their most responsive targets. This info was easily available.

What CRM are you using to manage your calls and leads? She named a program that had been left behind by the more successful divisions years ago. Yikes! They were prospecting with a tool that slowed them down and didn’t allow them to segment by key criteria, when a Cadillac solution that costs little was used by the more successful divisions. Why not use the more effective tool?

What are you using for scripts? No clear answer, it depends, we change them up, yada yada. Yikes! The most successful divisions use consistent scripting that is fairly easily available. Why use weak messaging when scripts proven to work are available?

That caller and company are struggling and they should not be.

Why do some stumble along thirsty in a prospecting desert, when others in similar situations are refreshed with a steady flow of future buyers? 4 reasons.

  1. Some are in love with their current prospecting. They can imagine no others.

The heart wants what the heart wants, and even though the relationship has stopped working, they refuse to see it.

  1. Some have stopped learning.

Rather than change and improve based upon lessons learned from those more successful, they have closed their minds to new things. If something is outside of their comfort zone, they are not open to considering it.

  1. Some are not coachable

They are not willing to be honest with themselves or acknowledge blind spots. You need humility as you are vulnerable when you need help. You must be able to admit to flaws seen by others.

  1. An unwillingness to do the work

This I have never understood. People seem willing to do something that is not working, wasting time and money, work way too hard for far too little, over and over again, yet won’t buckle down to do the work to lift themselves into the top tier. Believe me, it takes far more work to be consistently mediocre (or worse) than it does to be successful. Do the work.

If you feel that prospecting is too hard, arduous, onerous, painful and troublesome, ask yourself the question above.

Are you making it harder than it has to be?

13 Tips to Improve the Quality of the Prospecting Sales Scripts you Use

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1. Three-second rule.

You have mere moments to ignite something in your prospect’s brain that says “Whoa, maybe I should listen to this.” Once those seconds have ticked away, and your prospect’s brain thinks “waste of time,” your odds of success plummet, no matter how good you are or how much you might help them.

So, if you work hard to get a quality prospect on the phone and start with “How are you?” “Got a minute” or “I know you are busy I will be quick.” You are providing no information that is helpful to them and driving them to the conclusion that you are a time-waster.

Particularly painful if you happen to connect with someone that needs your service and would welcome a new option. You lose opportunities if you don’t hook them immediately.

2. There must be immediate absolute clarity as to what you do.

Your “what we do” statement must be easy to grasp and understand. Long multi-part sentences are hard to understand and knock you out of the box immediately.

3. Relate to what is familiar to them

The themes you touch, the benefits you speak of, the examples you give must be familiar to them. If they can’t relate, what you say will not resonate, and you will not achieve your objective.

4. Sell hope.

In the beginning, more than anything, you are selling hope. That given what you do, your credibility, your track record, your record of results, the long list of companies that you have helped, you enable prospects to conclude that you might be able to help them.

5. Stay focused on what matters.

You need to stay focused on objective specific behaviors that will advance a sale with a qualified prospect. Sorry to burst some bubbles out there but being conversational, sounding natural, keeping it short and not sounding salesy (don’t get me going) should not be your goals.

Are you saying the right things that enable possibly great future accounts to conclude that you are worth more time? That is the only thing that matters.

There are plenty of hard working underpaid reps that focus on the wrong things such as not sounding salesy. But guess what, what sounds salesy to non-buyers is what your next great account wants to hear. Focus on that.

6. Create some suspense and tease a bit.

It takes multiple interactions to build trust and comfort. Different prospects absorb and process information at different paces. Many times, without a second or third interaction, you are not getting a check. Earning that next interaction is key.

Hint that if they spoke to you again that there would be something delivered worth their time. Strategies, proven methods, case studies, examples, lollipops, something.

7. Don’t leave a giant hole in your script: Credibility Statement

Want to know the most common giant sinkhole in scripts that sucks away qualified prospects? The lack of a credibility statement. Mind-boggling.

Companies or individuals that have proven track records, plenty of satisfied clients, that could rattle off the names of reputable, well-known companies that have chosen them that could relate impressive results obtained, say absolutely nothing about any of it. Nothing. Not one syllable.

Without a credibility statement, callers don’t know whether you are reputable and maybe worth their time or calling from your parent’s basement. And don’t get me going on the knuckleheads that think it sufficient to mention saving them money. They are truly a lost cause.

Why should someone invest time with a provider without knowing if they are credible? They won’t and don’t. They go to Google and with a few keystrokes find possible vendors worth their time.

If you have credibility, use it. Be so credible your prospects think “ I may not find someone this good online, I’ll meet.”

8. Be believable and fact-based. Avoid hype.

Understand that when you are prospecting initially, as there is no familiarity, history or trust with you, that prospects will discount anything you say that may seem hyped or they are not sure they agree with. If you use words like “best” “superior” or make a claim that seems exaggerated, your prospects immediately discount the claim, and you are on shaky ground.

In the beginning, keep your claims matter of fact without hype or anything that suggests exaggeration. A strong fact-based no hype script will get you more “yes’s” as it will be believable.

9. Don’t lead with price.

I am at a loss as to how to sugar coat this. There are so many factors that go into a buy decision. If you lead with the price, you are not relating more important points likely to get you deeper into the pipeline. Leading with price is a very thin foundation upon which to build a sale and attracts the wrong type of customer.

If you are one of those that call people up and say “We can save you money,” you need to unlearn everything you think you know about sales. You truly are doomed.

10. Vary your pace and vocal tone.

People don’t absorb every word of your scripts. Not all words are equal. They absorb words and phrases that stand out to them. Make sure that your most important points are emphasized by varying your pace and vocal tone on those points. Lowering your voice and slowing down a bit makes important points stand out.

Have you been chosen by “500 companies in the East Yazoo area?” Is your typical result to “improve ROI by 22% within six months?” Make those points stand out by altering your pace and tone.

11. Eliminate the boring parts

When you write, you should delete the parts that people will skip.
When you write sales scripts, you should delete anything that sounds like the same old same old, heard it before, here is another one, yada yada yada. Delete that crap.

If you can envision a competitor saying the same thing, don’t. Don’t waste words. Keep it fresh.

12. Eliminate “I” and “we.”

Keep what you say focused on your prospect and your happy clients and accounts. “I think” “I want” “I’m calling today to” “we think” “We would like to.” That is the totally wrong focus. No one cares a whit what you think or what you want.

Turn your “I’s” into “You’s.” Keep the focus of your scripts on them.

You will have to say “We do X” But other than that, all your focus should be on them and the experiences of your current and prior satisfied accounts.

13. Remember that value knocks down doors.

Every syllable of your sales scripts should ooze with credibility, benefits, specifics, and value. Value knocks down doors.

If you are communicating value important to top prospects, they will forgive that you sound a little scripted or what you might consider being too salesy. (Don’t get me going.) If you are saying the things they want to hear, need to hear, you will open doors.

I have seen plenty of reps that were not the smoothest or most natural talkers, that sounded a bit scripted and salesy even, rack up opportunities consistently. Why? Because they are communicating value and the words your next great account wants to hear.

Many reps make the fatal mistake of not understanding that a lot of people don’t need what you are offering. You get rejected because they don’t need you. Not because you don’t sound natural, are not conversational enough or sound too salesy. Those are your insecurities.

Don’t water down your verbiage to have more comfortable conversations with those that have no need and will say “No” anyway.

Keep your scripts laser-focused on communicating value to those that do have a need. They will ignore what you might consider imperfections in delivery if you are communicating value and credibility important to them.

Value knocks down doors.

Have fun out there you crazy kids.

If Your Appointment Setting System Is Not Working, What Do You Do? 3 Core Reasons For Poor Results.

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What if you or your team are smiling, dialing, emailing, leaving messages, working hard and yet, too few sales appointments and discovery calls are being set. What do you do.

Let me share with you my 3 step process for getting an appointment setting program on track.

Three Core Reasons For Poor Results

1. The List:

You are not interacting with enough high-value/high-probability targets. Too much of your activity is directed toward low-value no-value lower-probability targets.

If you were shooting fish in a barrel, you would not only want that barrel to have plenty of fish but for the barrel to be drained and the fish lying on the bottom. Those are good odds.

If you are working hard and not getting results, one reason could be that you have stacked the odds against yourself by allocating too much time, often way too much time, to targets that are not as valuable to you as others.

You need to do two things. Tighten the profile of your bullseye targets so that your time is invested with records that provide you with the highest probability of success. Also, be ruthless about discarding or pushing records aside that are lower value or probability or that with which you have reached the point of diminishing returns for your efforts.

Top producers are best at allocating their time where it will do the most good. Do not be like the knuckleheads who work hard with little to show for it with thoughts such as “you never know,” “there are some good prospects in here,” or “I don’t want to miss one.” Idiots.

Work Probabilities, Not Possibilities.

Be willing to let go.

One of the quickest ways you can boost results is to make a concerted effort to stop calling all the low-probability records in your prospecting pipeline. Stop calling them immediately. That creates room for you to call fresh records that are more closely aligned with your bullseye best prospect profile.

You Want To JackHammer Into A Solid Vein Of Gold,
Not Thrash Around In The Manure Pile Looking For A Few Nuggets.

If you are working hard and not getting results, the most likely culprit is that you are calling a list that is weaker than it has to be. Reevaluate your profile. Tighten your target bullseye. Get more aggressive about letting go at the point of diminishing returns. Don’t try hard to rationalize a reason to keep investing time with a record. Let go.

Get to the point where you can say to yourself “I know this is the best list I can call with the time I have. I have done the research; I am using good list sources. I am highly confident that this is the very best place to be prospecting.”

In my day I wanted to feel very confident that 85% of my activity was being invested with records that I had confirmed or had a very high degree of confidence were the best records to call. As to the rest of the records, I would only spend so much time determining if they were worthy. If after a certain amount of effort I wasn’t sure of the potential value, buh-bye record, on to the next.

Records Being “Good Enough” To Call Isn’t Good Enough

It is not sufficient for the list you are actively calling to be “good enough.” If there are better records to call, higher value or higher probability, closer to your bullseye best prospect profile, you need to be calling them. Not the ones that are just okay.

Once you are confident that your list is the best it can be, look to the other 2 factors that may be dragging you down.

2. Your Process:

If you or your team are not getting decent results, it could also be that the call process you are working to earn a conversation with or reply from your decision-maker is lousy or non-existent.

You are trying to generate the most results by working a system of interaction — a system, pre-planned well thought series of interactions purposely chosen to provide you with the best chance to meet your business goals.

There is only one best call process for you to use to set the most discovery calls. There are not 4 best systems. The best way to achieve your goal does not change with every dial, the weather, or your mood and motivation. You don’t have to work the “3 cycles of 3” system I believe in, but you do need to work a system. Your “system” will be responsible for 80% or more of your results. If you don’t have a system, or you don’t work your system consistently, or are quick to abandon it, those are very good reasons why your results are poor.

There is an activity component to your system. If you are not making enough dials on the right schedule and leaving enough touches (voicemails or emails primarily) when you should, then your results will plummet. But be careful, increasing activity levels using a poor call process is not going to solve your problem. Keep in mind that the most productive appointment setters/discovery-call setters do not make the most dials. They don’t.

If you are not getting results and you are working in a reasonable range of activity, the problem is not your activity level, it is your process.

Sorting And Ranking

There is also a sorting and ranking component to your system. Your system should enable you to identify the highest value targets so that you can spend more time with them. Even more importantly, your system enables you to identify the lowest-value and no-value targets so that you will not spend any more time with them. Time spent rolling in the garbage pile looking for something good is time you can’t spend shooting fish in a barrel that has been drained.

If you are not getting results, be honest with yourself as to whether you have a decent system and whether you are working it properly. Time and time again I run into teams that retool and start generating a greatly increased number of discovery calls only to get a call a year later. “It doesn’t seem to be working anymore. We don’t know why?”

Often it turns out that the carefully thought out call process created and proven to provide the greatest chance of call success has been completely abandoned. Not enough calls are being made. They are not being made at the right times. The required number of touches are not being delivered. Qualification, sorting, ranking by value are not being done, so a tremendous amount of time is being wasted calling sludge.

If you or your team are not getting results, do you feel confident that you have documented an outreach process that gives you the very best chance of reaching your business prospecting goals? If not, tighten it up, massage it, upgrade it, then jump right back in.

If you have a process documented, is it being worked properly? Let’s face it. The good news about prospecting is that you can figure out what to do. The bad news is that then you have to do it, again and again, and again. Sales prospecting is repetitive work. Once you discover what works you must do it over and over.

Stop Thinking and Work Your Process

There are exceptions to every rule. Crazy things happen. We deal with human beings that at times will act illogically and outside our expectations. There is a lunatic fringe element contained in any group of people we prospect and any system we use.

However, you get a huge boost in results when you are consistent with your call process. Assuming you are laser targeted on the highest probability list, eighty percent or more of results will spill out of the consistent implementation of your core process. Less than 20% of results will be generated by exceptions to the rule, randomness, shit luck, serendipity, or the lunatic fringe.

There is a strong temptation to rationalize why on any individual call or with any individual record why you can vary from your core process. Fight this.

If you are not getting results, one of the main reasons is that your call/outreach process needs to be improved. Or, if you have a good process, a reason for lack of results is that you vary from your core process too frequently. If you are finding reasons to abandon your call process too frequently, you don’t really have a process, and results will plummet.

Even Variations From Your Process Are Part Of Your Process.

Even the variations in your system, the times you drive off the road and vary from your core process, is built into your process. When you choose to vary from your core process or cut it short, you do so for consistent objective reasons. You don’t vary from your process because you are bored, that you dread saying the same thing over and over, that you can’t bring yourself to leave one more voicemail that will not be answered. Your feelings of boredom and lack of motivation have nothing to do with what works. Nothing.

A Tale From The Cube

True story. I had a client who offered a unique environment service involving meters leaking mercury into natural gas fields. As a practical matter, only the top 50-100 oil companies were reasonable targets for this service. The contracts were worth millions if not tens of million dollars. Two good callers had tried yet failed to produce results. My calling days had long been over, but I offered to work the system to determine where the problem was.

So I was calling very top executives at very, very large companies. I worked the system and did the same thing over and over. I teach the stuff, and I was bored out of my mind. The same calls, the same corporate receptionists or phone trees, the same script routines, the same emails, the same roadblocks and rejections over and over. My tedium and boredom were occasionally rudely interrupted by a top dog that said “yes.” I ended up getting my client meetings within the top levels of major oil companies. The system worked.

The drudgery of doing the same thing over and over was brutal. The temptation to skip steps or rationalize why for this call, for this company, it was okay to cut the process short was very strong. But I would think back to my early calling days when I would keep saying to myself “just work the system.” When I was bored or began to doubt myself, I would “just work the system.” When the thought of leaving that same voicemail one more time would make me want to vomit, I would “just work the system.” Don’t think about the system; work the system. I would play all sorts of mental tricks to keep me focused and working the system as efficiently as possible.

There is a time to take a step back and think about what your process should be. Most of the time you should be working that system.

If you are not getting results, it could very well be that your process needs to be improved. Or more commonly, that you are not consistently working your system.

Once you conclude that you are hitting the right targets and that your process is solid and you are working your process well, there is only one other core reason why you are not booking enough discovery calls or first sales appointments.

3. Your Messaging

If you are confident you are reaching out to the right targets, confident that your process is solid and that you are working it consistently, there is only one other key reason why you are not generating results.

Your messaging is weak.
Your verbiage is watered down.
You sound like the other idiots who have called and wasted their time.
You are not giving them reasons to listen to you just a little bit longer.
You are not communicating value and credibility worth their time.

Your verbiage is not enabling those who recognize a need and will be writing a check to you or one of your competitors within 3-15 months, to conclude that you are worth their time.

Most commonly, you are pulling your punches. You have things you could be saying that would connote credibility, value, and representative results you deliver, but you are not saying those things.

It might be because of feeling that being direct is being “too salesy,” which is ridiculous.

It might be because you have some level of personal discomfort just laying your cards on the table and letting your prospect say “yes” or “no.”

You might be afraid to be rejected, so you do mental backflips and rationalize that if you are “nice” and “not pushy” that people will listen to you longer. Wrong.

If you are confident that you are calling the right targets and that your process for calling is solid, the only other core problem is that your message is not resonating.

So you have to punch up your messaging. Be more direct. Push more value and credibility to the beginning of your pitch. Eliminate every moment and every syllable that is not communicating credibility and value to someone who has a need you can fill.

You need to get over your mental crap about being pushy, being perceived as rude, or interrupting someone. Those are your issues, not your prospects.

By choosing to prospect by phone you have already decided to interrupt people, so you need to get over that. Having decided to interrupt busy people, how are you most respectful of their time?

Do you call them up and recite verbiage and let second after second slip by without providing them information sufficient to conclude that you are worth their time? Do you fill the time between “hello” and “ we are all set” with “I know you are busy,” ”won’t take much of your time,” “do you have a minute” and “I am not worthy?” If so, you deserve everything you get.

Or, are you most respectful of your suspect’s time, a suspect you have chosen to interrupt, with a clear, direct statement as to what you do, why you are credible, the benefits delivered, and what they would get if they spent more time with you?

It takes about 30 seconds to deliver such a statement. The 15%-18% of the people you speak to who have a need will “get it” and can conclude that you are worth more of their time. Maybe a bit longer on the phone, maybe at a face to face meeting, or on a discovery call.

Those who do not have a need can also “get it” and say goodbye. That is a successful call for you, and you have minimized the interruption of your suspects time with a clear, concise, direct statement of what you do, why you are credible, and what they might get if they spent more time with you.

Just lay your cards on the table crisply, clearly, and with impact using the verbiage that most impactfully communicates your message. Roll out the big guns.

You are always nice, you are always professional, but your messaging must communicate sufficient credibility and value to achieve your business objectives when you are speaking to a qualified prospect who recognizes a need on some level and will be writing a check to your or a competitor shortly.

Value Knocks Down Doors.

Punch up your scripts so that they are clear, concise, direct and powerfully communicate your credibility and value.

Focus On The Component Parts Of The Process That Lead To Results;
Don’t Focus On The Result.

Hang in here with me on this statement. When you wish to set more discovery calls and sales appointments, don’t focus on the result. Focus on improving specific parts of the process that lead to the result.

Your list.
Your process.
Your messaging.

If it is not working, do a deep dive into the component parts and each small step of your process. Focus on punching up the steps that will lead to the results you

7 Self-Sabotaging Sales Script Choices

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When you get decision-makers on the phone, are you interrupted, cut-off, hung up on or quickly hear “We are all set”, “Send me some info” or something else that represents phone frustration.

The truth is that many times YOU are the cause of those problems.

Yes, YOU!! You choose words and a script structure that actually causes the very problems that frustrate you and you wish to avoid.

During the past week I had the opportunity to review scripts for two clients. One was an on-site presentation, the other a telephone-coaching client. Both of them made common strategic errors with their choice of words. Let me share the highlights of my advice.

TOO LONG: You’re wondering why you get cut off? You are not getting to the point and communicating something they want. If your written script is 4, 5 or 6 minutes long, what are you thinking? You are causing the problems that frustrate you. Condense and communicate value and credibility clearly. Your initial pitch should be 30 seconds long. No more. You need to accomplish 5 things in those 30 seconds.

DON’T ASK QUESTIONS UP FRONT: It is a major strategic error in scripting to ask, “How are you?” or “Did I catch you at a bad time?” Why? They know you don’t care, you sound like all the rest that waste their time, and you already know they are probably busy… so don’t ask, give them information that makes you more important than what they are doing. When you ask questions like this you think you are being nice but you are actually cutting your own throat. You spend so much time dialing to get someone you have identified as a decision-maker, get to the value exchange. The value exchange will lead to success, convenience or comfort will not.

DON’T TRY TO QUALIFY THEM BEFORE YOU HAVE COMMITMENT: Big mistakes made up front in scripting are efforts to qualify in the wrong place. If you have carefully selected a pool of targets that closely resembles the accounts you wish to clone, and you have called to identify the decision-maker and probably in previous calls had the opportunity to re-confirm that your target handles XXX, why would you ask them – within seconds of hearing “Hello” – “Are you the person who handles XXX?”

When you do that you sound like all the rest, so by your own actions you have enabled your target to lump you in with all the other time wasters, you have given them control of the conversation, something you never want to do and …. you are not communicating value…, so such questions are a waste of words and significantly reduce conversion rates of conversations to appointments set. There are other ways to confirm decision-making authority before you hang-up.

“WE” IS OVERUSED: Listen, it is not about you. It is about them. Scripts that are laced throughout with “We this,” “We that” or “We want” are misguided as nobody cares about you. Your choice of words has to be about them. When communicating to a decision maker eliminate the “we’s” and use “YOU, YOU, YOU.” Talk about what they will get at the meeting, talk about benefits others have received. Re-craft your words to be oriented about THEM and the value they will get when meeting you.

ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY WORDS: Don’t say “The reason for my call is… the point of my call is” Just say it. If you are going to communicate 5 points in 30 seconds you need to rip out every unnecessary word.

DON’T DESTROY YOUR OWN CREDIBILITY: Don’t say things like “companies like yours will save $25,000 or more.” If I hadn’t heard of your company until 10 seconds ago and you have never interacted with my company, how can you say you will definitely do anything? When you say things like this the credibility meter plummets and the crap meter rises. You are better off to say, “70% of the companies we meet with are able to save $25,000 or more.”

DON’T TRY TO SELL YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE: The only thing you are trying to sell with that phone conversation is a meeting. The only thing you are trying to communicate is a value exchange so that your targets can conclude that it is worth his/her time to spend 30-60 minutes with you… even if they don’t buy, which of course, is what they are probably thinking. It is hard enough to sell that over the phone. Do not cross the line and start pitching the value of your product or service. It is way too early to do so and you will schedule far fewer appointments within qualified companies.

Sell the meeting and you get more opportunities to sell your product or service. Pitch your product or service too early and you get fewer appointments… fewer opportunities to sell.

There are many other common self-sabotaging script mistakes.

Best wishes for sales success,
Scott Channell

50 Shades of “Not Interested.” A Sales Rebuttal Objection Strategy.

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Funny story. Newbie in training relates a call in which the decision-maker replied “not interested.” Get this. The newbie actually thought that meant they were “not interested.” Hilarious.

Newbie reps, they are so innocent.

When your prospect says “not interested.” The least likely reality of this blow off is that your decision-maker is actually “not interested.”

If your objection handling response assumes that there is an element of truth present when you hear the “not interested” objection prospecting blow off, you are losing a lot of opportunities and future closes.

Here are some examples to deal with this common sales objection that work better than begging them to not hang-up.

The “Not Interested” sales objection: What is really going on?

First consideration: Your sales prospecting scripts invited that response. What you said and how you said it are the reasons why you hear this common sales objection over and over again.

Sad but true. If you are hearing the “not interested” sales objection too often and want to craft a more effective responses, the first place you need to look is your mirror. Why? The words you spoke prior to hearing the “I’m not interested” objection probably caused the sales objection blow off you now feel a need to overcome.

Your first step is not to focus on overcoming this sales objection blow-off, and most of the time it is a blow-off, not an actual statement of truth. Your first focus is within.

When you hear “not interested” as a sales objection, your decision-maker may actually by saying one of these things.

“I don’t understand what they do so “I’m not interested.””
“Sounds like another dime a dozen service provider requesting a demo and not worth my time, even though I need what they offer so “I’m not interested.””
“This person sounds like the other idiot sales reps who call me and waste my time with a weak sales message so “I’m not interested.””
“I need this but I’m going to select the salespeople I talk to so “I’m not interested.””

Your sales objection and rebuttal script strategy in overcoming the “I’m not interested” objection starts before your prospects even say it.

How to overcome the “not interested” sales objection and “say something” syndrome.

Second consideration: Human compulsion to fill silence in conversation with something. When calling, blather will do.

When it comes to cold calling many inside sales teams suffer from neurological auto verbiage impulse compulsion. When callers don’t know what to say they say something anyway.

When precision crafting your “not interested” sales rebuttal better salespeople appreciate that many times “not interested” is the equivalent of “I don’t get it,” “I’m buying but this person isn’t worth my time,” “I’m buying but this company sounds pretty run of the mill, I’ll pick someone more credible,” “We are making this decision sometime in the future, not now,” or “I need more time to grasp what is being said.”

It is key that your response assume that what was expressed was not literally true. It is not because “buyers are liars.” It would be convenient for us if that was true because we then would not have to accept responsibility for causing that objection by our confusing, bland, non-credible, benefit-light sales scripts. But buyers are not liars. They may not understand what we offer, get our value, why we are more worthy than the rest or how they will benefit from meeting with us. That is on us, not them.

So your sales objection handling strategy for the “not interested” blow-off starts by understanding that when you hear “I’m not interested” what is really going on is…

1. They don’t understand what you do.
2. They need more time to grasp what you are saying.
3. They don’t think you are worth their time even though they have a need.
4. They will have a need in the future but don’t see the value in meeting now.
5. They will have a need in the future but don’t feel it is worth mentioning to you.
6. They have a need but have already or will pick their own providers to speak to. You don’t seem worthy.
7. They have no need now or in the future.

The least likely reality is #7.

The Worst Response to the “I’m not interested” Sales Objection Assumes it is True.

Third consideration: You need techniques to double-check what the potential customer is really thinking .

So, if you don’t know what the decision maker really means( frankly, most of the time the decision-maker doesn’t know what they mean or is still processing what you said) you have to give them more time to process what you say and reinforce the clarity of what you do, your credibility and value, and what they will get if they commit to a next step with you.

So your objection handling response to “not interested” assumes that what you are hearing is not literally true and gives the decision-maker more time to process what is being said and absorb what’s in it for them.

Your rebuttal to “not interested” must restate and reinforce what you do, your credibility, your benefits and specifically what they will get if they spend more time with you. [Shameless plug: Sample rebuttal scripts and examples can be found in my books available on Amazon.]

If their response is still something other than “yes,” you need to do one more thing. Check for future business needs.

Remember, when you hear the “I’m not interested” sales objection one of the more probable things it really means is “We will have a need in the near future, but not now.”

In my world most of my training and coaching clients sell longer sales cycle offerings. Their sales process acknowledge and reflects that reality. It is far more likely they interact with a decision-maker at a time when they are not in active buying mode. Many of those decision-makers will buy within the next 6 – 18 months. They will buy from a competitor if you are not there.

When you hear the “not interested” objection they may really be saying “not now.” So you have to enable them to tell you how to sell them.

So after starting with your impactful benefit and credibility laden “set the appointment” pitch,” and responding to the “I’m not interested” objection by repeating and reinforcing what you do, your credibility, the benefits clients get from you and what they will learn at a meeting… end with this.

“Not an issue, don’t want to be on your back, but obviously we do a lot of this. Could you suggest a time for me to be back in touch with you?” Then say nothing. Nothing.

You will be surprised at how many times after hearing the “I’m not interested” objection and hearing it again delivering your response, that you hear “Call me in two weeks, call me in a month or call me in 3 months.”

Your simple response when you do. “Happy to do that, is there a particular reason why that is a good time to call?” Be quiet. They tell you. You promise to call, say thanks and then hang-up.

Your “not interested” decision-maker just turned into a qualified opportunity. Ka-ching.

The next time you hear “not interested,” be ready.