You should be scared… very scared, if you are prospecting for high value clients and committing this common error.
THE PROSPECTING NIGHTMARE YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF ON EVERY CALL
In the days when I was smiling and dialing in cubeland setting more than 2,000 C-level sales appointments, there was a nightmare that drove the structure of every call.
The nightmare was this. I do all the work. Spend the time and money up-front. Sludge through dial after dial and voicemail hell… get a very qualified prospect to pick up the phone…. and because I don’t deliver information that communicates my value and potential worth, that call goes nowhere.
Did all the work and made the investment. Did the dialing dance. Got someone who would be a great account and would be thrilled to have me as a vendor to pick up the phone. The conversation gets nothing. Why? Because I didn’t communicate value and credibility sufficient to implant a desire to listen a little bit longer… to have a longer conversation… to meet.
The worst part? I possessed the value and credibility statements that would enable a top decision maker to see that I was worth more of their time, yet I didn’t provide that information before their minds shut down and it was over.
What a waste.
Maybe I was structuring the conversation with a lot of “Hi, how are ya’s?” or “Have you got a minute?” up front time wasters. How was I communicating value with those words?
Or maybe I said what everyone else said and they couldn’t grasp that I was really superior to the competition. What did I say that would enable them to think differently?
Or maybe I talked about what I wanted… my company. Me. Me. Me. Rather than approach things from a “you” orientation. What does the prospect want? Say things that they care about. If I don’t do that, it is my fault that the conversation is a dud.
The nightmare was I work my butt off to get high level people on the phone and then don’t say the things that would enable them to determine that it would be worth their time to explore my offerings further.
That should be your nightmare.
Many people and companies have powerful value and credibility statements that would make top level decision-makers at great future accounts sit up and take notice…. but they don’t use them. Or if they use them, they are so buried in generic marketing speak they get lost and unnoticed. Is this you?
What a shame. At the critical point of contact with the prospect you have superior assets to accomplish your business objective and you are not using them.
Thought this would be a good topic today as the issue has come up a lot recently with client coaching and projects.
Have a tax audit firm that has saved their clients more than $100 million in the last 18 months alone. That fact screams credibility and worth, yet wasn’t being used. We make it prominent in scripts and follow-up communications and BOOM!… you have people’s attention.
Another client doing mergers and acquisitions, targets insurance professionals servicing the middle market and enables them to double insurance sales with business valuations. Put that statement upfront and BOOM!… you have their attention.
Another coaching client in the direct selling industry had a long track record of personally earning well into six figures annually conducting home parties, before starting to teach people how to increase sales 30% within 90 days and double the size of their sales team within 12 months. Fun facts very meaningful to their target audience that were not being mentioned or were buried. Start mentioning them upfront and BOOM!… you have their attention.
So, what powerful statements that communicate value and credibility do you have that are not being used to full advantage?
Start using them and sleep better at night.
Best wishes for great selling,
Scott Channell
