Sales Managers Do You Care About How Well Your People Handle Inbound Leads

Writen by Dr. Gary S. Goodman

I've been doing a cold calling campaign to increase my consulting business and to refine my training materials, and it's nothing less than exhilarating.

You might wonder why someone like me, a best selling author of classic titles such as YOU CAN SELL ANYTHING BY TELEPHONE! and REACH OUT & SELL SOMEONE would bother making his own calls.

Practice makes me better, I can tell you that.

Moreover, when I immerse myself in cold calling, my scripting abilities soar.

Let me give you an example.

Today, I resolved to cut to the chase and to boil down to one question, my pitch to sales managers and VP's of marketing:

DO YOU CARE?

You know all about needs-based, consultative selling which owes its power to probing, to asking questions. The problem with it is it forces us to try to be too darned clever.

Who can come up with four or five brilliant questions that lead prospects merrily down the garden path?

And which prospects, I mean today's prospects, which of them has the patience to be led into such a nice verbal trap?

No, my friend, we're lucky to be able to articulate one great probe: what I term, a "perfect question."

DO YOU CARE?

That's a perfect question because it doesn't matter whether a prospect has or can get a budget, or even if he has a pressing need, if he's indifferent or even hostile about solving it, with or without my help.

If he doesn't care that's the end of the story.

Today, I asked this question, with a suitable tag line attached, and my prospect raised his voice and declared, YES I DO!

I know a live one when I hear one, and this guy is it, the real deal.

He woke up, focused, and convinced himself he has a need, it's important, and he'll be open to receiving my help to address it.

Does cold calling get any better than this?

Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 750 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered a foremost expert in telephone effectiveness, customer service, and sales development. A top-rated speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.