Sales training ideas – Are you chasing your tail?

Do you have caller ID? If you do, and you don’t answer calls other than the ones you recognize, you undoubtedly see the number and names of some of the same telemarketing organizations coming up on caller ID daily. Hopefully your prospects don’t notice the same from you.

It amazes me how many organizations will call, and call, and call, everyday, sometimes even twice a day, trying to get me on the phone. Also, 95% never leave a message. This is a waste of time, money, effort, and energy, and it is costing that organization tons of all of the above chasing its tail.

While it’s true that you want to touch each prospect a minimum of 7 times over say a two to three week period, this isn’t the way to go about it. First off, again, very few of these callers leaves a message so how would I know if I’m remotely interested? Second, your 7 touches would not be 7 phone calls. You’d call, then follow up with a fax, then perhaps an e-mail, if you had that information, then perhaps another phone call. And each time you would mention your primary benefit and ask that the person get back to you if interested. After your 7 touches, you reach the point of diminishing returns.

The bottom line: What does your prospecting look like? Are you like the vendor that showed up on my caller ID every single day for 6 months, and never left a message? Unfortunately, this isn’t an exception, this is just the record holder at this point. Many have called for a month or two and again, no message. Go for your 7 touches, leave a message filled with benefits, ask that the person get back to you, and let the prospect go after 7 touches and no contact back. You can then call that prospect again down the road, say 6 or 9 months later. At that point, touch the prospect twice within a week.

John Chapin – co-author Sales Encyclopedia    www.completeselling.com