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It’s a common prospecting scenario where you pick up the phone and then a live person answers on the other end of the line. Now you find yourself stuttering, not knowing how to start the conversation or what to say.  Now, what? Cat got your tongue?

Or you may probably ramble through the conversation that it was bad enough to make you feel embarrassed and flustered. So you decide to move on to the next call. Seven calls after, you get to a voice mail.

You see, the first three seconds of your call can either make or break a deal.

Here is a simple outline to help guide you through your prospecting calls:

1. Define the purpose of your call.

Have an outline on your desk or something you put in front of your computer or whatever. First, recognize the purpose of the call.

2. Define the role of the person you’re reaching out to.

Put that role down and understand these roles. Understand the challenges of these individuals.

3. Grab the client’s attention and get the appointment.

• Verify if it’s the right person: Ask the client and verify who the person you’re talking to is. (ex. “Is this Mary?“)
• The purpose of this is that it gives you time to gather yourself together and to focus on the commission at hand – to grab attention and get an appointment.

4. Ask a business question focused around the unconsidered need.

The idea here is that you have knowledge about something they don’t know or you’ve been able to identify a challenge that they’re not even thinking about.

For example:

You: What are you doing to bring down your cost per lead?

Client: Our sales rep does that stuff.

You: One of our companies was spending close to $7 per lead and we were able to get them down to only 15 cents per lead. If I’m able to share this with you and show you how you can do this with your company, would you be interested in a conversation?

5. Practice.

Make sure you’re prepared. The better prepared you are, the better you’re going to perform. The better you perform, the money you’ll make.

Episode Resources:

The Science of Selling by David Hoffeld

The Three Value Conversations by Cheryl Geofrrion, Concrad Smith, et al.

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