Being consistently less stupid than the competition is often the road to success.
The goal is to attract prospects, not to chase them away with a stick. Yet, when good people work the phones to get face-to-face meetings, discovery calls, webinar or event attendance, that is often what they do. Chase the prospects away with a stick.
You want to say things that communicate credibility, value, and worth. You want valuable prospects to conclude that it is worth their time to explore your offerings.
So let’s eliminate the self-sabotage and stop shooting ourselves in the foot by eliminating these self-defeating phrases from our phone prospecting vocabulary.
We would like to stop by for 10-15 minutes…
Is that all you are worth? Then you must not have much to offer. Good bye.
A short visit is not a benefit. You communicate value, let the prospect tell you if they have an issue with time.
Plus, when you set expectations like that and end up staying longer, you have started the relationship off with a lie. They know you misrepresented something to get a meeting. You are building a relationship with sand.
How are you?
Write down this Scottism. Don’t make it easy for them to throw you in with the idiots. Your best prospects are barraged by time-wasting worthless phone prospecting calls. If you say the things that idiots say that waste people’s time, you will also be perceived to be an idiot.
You think you are being “nice.” That has nothing to do with getting results. The first few seconds of a call are most important. Instead of using it to communicate value and credibility, you chose to fill those seconds with something of no value to buyers and is said by many that waste their time.
Be professional, but get to the point and lay the proper foundation for them to conclude that you are worth more of their time.
Are you the person in charge of….
If you didn’t know, why did you call them? If they were identified as the decision-maker why ask this question? Launch right into your pitch. If they are the right person you have a shot at a next step. If they are not, if they know what you do and perceive you as credible they will refer you to the right person. Asking this question is self-defeating.
I know you are busy…
Really? You don’t “know” anything. Are you a professional with worthwhile info and expertise that can help or are you a peon begging for a few seconds audience with a superior? People buy from peers. You won’t earn time from worthwhile prospects if you project an image of a 3rd class citizen begging for whatever scraps of time can be thrown your way.
It won’t take much of your time…
Again, this phrase projects weakness and uncertainty. Short meetings are not a benefit if you are perceived to have no value. You spend the few seconds you have to communicate credibility, value, benefits and what they will get if they spend more time with you. Let them tell you if they have an issue with time.
You shoot yourself in the foot and diminish your value when you say this.
We work with companies just like you…
The lies begin. The decision-maker on the other end of the line immediately thinks “BS. They haven’t met us or know what our objectives are or what we are trying to do.” They mouth “All set, have a vendor we love” or another excuse to get off the phone with you but they are really thinking “This person is clueless, making assumptions and a waste of my time.”
If that statement is true, then say things which enable your decision-maker to conclude that you have experience worthwhile to them.
Don’t state what you wish them to conclude, lead them to it. Much more powerful.
Do you have a minute?
Really bad. You are handing control of the conversation over to your prospect before you have communicated value and credibility. Why should they have any time for someone who has given them no information to conclude they are worthwhile? Bye-bye.
Giving you a quick call to…
Again. Don’t waste your precious upfront seconds with a promise of brevity which provides them no information to conclude you are worth listening to and sounds like all the other schmucks who waste their time.
Sometimes being smarter than your competition isn’t the answer. Being less stupid is.
Evaluate your phone and sales scripts for self-sabotaging language.
Always say things that communicate value and credibility to buyers.
NEVER say things that diminish perceptions of your value. Seconds matter.
Go forward and be less stoopid on the phone.
