Membership Overview
Learn what being a member does for you
The Seller Styles
NASP Programs
Catalog
See a summary of all our programs and certifications
Online Certifications
Certified Professional Sales Person(CPSP®)
Develop your potential as a certified sales professional
Certified Professional Sales Leader(CPSL®)
Grow your impact as a certified sales leader
Certified Master Sales Professional (CMSP®)
Join the elite group of sales professionals and leaders
Certified Master Sales Trainer (CMST®)
Online Programs
Advanced Sales Influence (ASI)
Take your influence and leadership to the next level.
Certified Professional Sales Associate (CPSA®)
Learn foundational sales behaviors, strategies, and skills
Power of Contact Marketing
Learn from marketing expert and author Stu Heinecke
ProSeries Programs
Join the top 1% of sales professionals in the world.
Next Level Virtual Coaching
Sales Mastery
Join our ongoing dynamic virtual coaching community
Career Center
Explore job postings from some of the best companies in the country looking for sales professionals
Training Resources
Daily Dose of Influence!
Enjoy our video series of influence tips and strategies
Leads To Growth
Dig into our podcast featuring industry leaders and experts
Coaches Corner
Learn from our high-level sales coaching video series
Women of Sales & Influence – Facebook Live Series
Be inspired by our Facebook Live series spotlighting top women influencers
Women of Sales & Influence – Video Blog
Enjoy valuable, high-level sales strategies to empower your sales goals
Sales Resources
The Growth Quotient
You’ve heard about IQ, but what is your GQ?
Our Commitment to You
We are here to help your approach to sales, how you interact with others, and how you perform and execute
Articles
NASP Sales Blog
Learn from our member-submitted articles for sales professionals
About Our CEO
Standards of Conduct
Testimonials
Common Questions and Answers
Contact
by Mike Brooks
What’s the first thing that goes through your head when you get a call from a sales rep? If you answered, “I can’t wait to get them off the phone,” then you’re not alone. In fact, when a telemarketer calls me up at home and says those words that immediately identify them as a sales person, the
“How are you today?” line, my first thought is, “I’ll be great as soon as I get rid of you!”
One of the biggest mistakes sales reps make who have to call prospects – either to set an appointment, generate interest, or qualify and then send information – is they don’t acknowledge in any way what is going through the prospect’s mind. Let’s face it, everyone you call has a reaction to being intruded upon, and each of them is having a similar reaction to the one that you and I have.
If you want to successfully connect with your prospect, and earn the precious few seconds it takes to establish rapport and generate some interest, then you must put yourself into the mind of your prospect and enter the conversation that’s going on in their minds. If you don’t do this, then you will be pitching and pitching and the prospect will just be waiting for you to take a breath so they can blow you off.
So, what can you do to enter this conversation?
“Now _________, you probably get a lot of these kinds of calls, don’t you? Well if you’re like me you’re probably wishing you hadn’t answered the phone right about now, so let’s make a deal: I’ll ask you just two quick questions to see if what I have can actually help you (do whatever it is your product or service can do), and if it can and you’re interested, we’ll continue, and if it can’t or you’re not interested, we’ll part friends, is that fair enough?”
“_________ if you’re like me you’re probably busy doing a million things so I’ll make this brief. Let me just ask you two quick things and if we find that we’re a fit and you’d like to know more than we can talk about it or we can schedule a time when it’s more convenient, is that fair?”
The nice thing about this technique is that it acknowledges that they’re busy but it gives them the option of spending more time with you now if they like what they hear.
When I first started out in marketing I needed to make some quick money. At the time, there was a rash of mold infestations here in Texas and mold remediators were having a heyday. I knew they were hungry for good, solid leads.
And about the same time I came across a way to generate leads using telephone auto-dialing. So I bought an auto-dialing system, installed it in my home and started generating leads for mold remediators. Yes, I admit it. I was one of those pesky, annoying auto-dialing demons.
It worked so well that I moved into generating leads for the mortgage industry. At the height of my lead generating business, I was auto-dialing 12,000 people in the city of Houston every day out of my little home office. You should have seen all the telephone lines coming out of my wall.
It was crazy!
From all those calls, I would generate about 5 good, solid leads a day (which actually made me a lot of money).
My Eureka Moment! I wasn’t happy with only 5 leads a day so I started testing new scripts. I thought to myself, what’s the first thing that I do when I hear an auto-dialed message? I HANG UP! So I added 4 words to the front of my script and KABOOM!
My leads QUINTUPLED….to an average of 20 leads a day with the same amount of dials. Wanna know what those 4 words were? They were simple.
“Please don’t hang up”
That’s it. I added, “Please don’t hang up” at the beginning of my script and my leads quintupled!”
For all of you out there who use an autodial, I recommend you trying this technique. Once again, it’s effective because it gets you into the mind of your prospect.
Think about what you’ve learned today as you go out and make your cold calls. Always ask yourself: “What is my prospect thinking, and how can I speak to that?” If you do, you’ll make a much better connection and you’ll end up making more sales!
Want to sell more with less rejection over the phone? Download Mike Brooks’ free Special Report, “Ten Techniques to Instantly Become a Better Closer” by clicking: http://www.mrinsidesales.com/sales_closing_techniques.htm
About the author
Do you have an underperforming inside sales team? Talk to Mike to see how he can help you and your team reach your revenue goals. To learn more about Mike, visit his website: http://www.MrInsideSales.com