When you contact the prospect for the first time, unless you can actually wrap up the sale without seeing him face to face, you never want to talk about your product or price on the phone.
“Why?” you ask.
Because the prospect doesn’t have enough information to seriously consider your offer. And as such, if you blurt out random details about your product in the first few sentences of your introduction, the prospect will likely say, “I’m not interested.” Or, “We’re not in the market for that right now.”
On the flip side, let’s say you’ve come up with an opening statement that describes the main benefit that the prospect will enjoy by owning your product or service. For instance, if you offer sales training, you could say, “We’ve developed a proven method that will increase your sales by 20 to 30 percent over the next twelve months.”
Now, with that statement, let’s say that you break the prospect’s preoccupation and get his undivided attention. As a result, the prospect might wonder, “Oh, really?” What is it, then?” Or, “Really? How do you do that?”
How do you respond in this situation?
Well, before we answer that, keep in mind that the purpose of your first call is not to sell or even talk about your product or service. Rather, it’s to get a face-to-face meeting with the prospect.
Again, you don’t want to talk about your product or service on the phone, and you don’t want to talk about anything else but the appointment. So, with that said, here’s how you can respond when the prospect asks, “How do you do that?”
You say, “That’s exactly what I’d like to talk to you about, and I just need ten minutes to go over it with you. Then you can decide for yourself if it’s right for your company.”
But, if the prospect is a busy person, he might say, “Well, can’t you just tell me a little bit about it over the phone?”
If that’s the case, then you can reply by saying, “I’d love to do that, but there’s something I have to show you. You see, you need to see it personally.” And this statement should awaken the prospect’s curiosity.
Then, you simply conclude with your original purpose by immediately offering the prospect a time to meet, such as, “Would Tuesday at 10 am work for you?”
