21st Century Prospecting "Besieged Client Condition"

Problem: Bill was frustrated, as he talked to Sue, his Sales Leader. Bill had been; "smiling and dialing for dollars", for hours with no tangible results to show for his efforts. Sue explained to Bill that suspects are constantly bombarded by marketing messages via the media enticing them to purchase. Prospects receive daily calls from salespeople who want to see them, so it's no wonder that they treat most requests for meetings with skepticism and suspicion. This 21st Century reality described as, "always being on", means prospecting is not for salespeople with high fear of rejection and need for approval. and Excuse Makers need not even apply.

Diagnosis: We are living in an era of "Besieged Client Condition" brought about by too much to do and not enough time to get it all done. The outcome is no one is sitting by the phone waiting for your call. Sue proceeded to outline for Bill the result of this "Besieged Client Condition". Sue mentioned that suspects and prospects with this condition love to hide, misdirect, knee jerk or outright lie about their situation. Their goal is to get you off the phone or out the door as fast as possible so they can continue on their efficient activity laden path. Folks today wear their business as a badge of courage. Sue mentioned some of the signs of this condition included their love to make safe choices, their tendency to run off if it's complicated, they like to hedge their bets, plus they are on 24/7 and use the Internet for research. Their mental condition is one of If it ain't broke don't fix it Survival Mode vs. Growth Mode plus let us maintain what we have. They cannot or will not differentiate services and products.

Prescription: Sue mentioned two tactics to focus on. One is called compelling reasons to buy and the second is called research. Sue explained only 85% of salespeople differentiate themselves from others. Part of differentiation is to give a person a reason to invite you in for a conversation because you offer something they urgently need and want. To create that urgency add some emotional feelings such as pain or gain. For instance do they want to invite you in because they are ecstatic that someone just like them has accomplished some significant gain. On the other hand do they invite you in because they are running away from a Doberman Pincher and they need help now. Sue gave two examples the first was from an existing client that was ecstatic because they were able to increase top line revenue by reducing manufactured returns by 15%. The next example had to deal manufactures that were angry that their line continued to go down in the middle of a production run. The second thing you need to do to differentiate yourself is research the company you are making an outreach too. What is it that you do from your research that could increase their revenue, decrease their costs and improve asset allocation based on their income statement? Now you can ready to put together a compelling statement that gives the suspect a clear indication of your intent for example:

I will not waste your time making a bunch of promises about how my product can help your company. The fact is I'm not sure we can help you, but I'm calling you because many other companies like yours have found that our product has been a good fit for them. Do you think it would be worth some of your time to evaluate something that has the potential to make you ecstatic that your return rates have been reduced by 15% thus increasing your top line revenue? If at the end of the meeting you don't think we have a fit, I'll be on my way. Does that sound fair?"

This can be done over the phone or even adapted to an email, letter or even a series of voice mails.

If you are interested in having the Gulas Group present at one of your events please contact Melody at 256-655-1422 or E-mail Melody at melody@advantages.net