Let’s say you use the basic approach to call on Jim Peters in order to ask for an appointment. However, Jim replies by saying to you, “I’d love to talk, but I’m really busy right now.”
Since you’re fully prepared to hear that reply, you use this approach to respond by asking a question such as, “Can’t we just get together this Thursday?”
Still, he insists, saying, “Look, I’m very busy right now, and this is simply not a good time. You’ll just have to call me back in a month.”
Now, in an ideal world, even though you’d like to get every single appointment that you ask for, it’s likely that there will be at least some people who initially won’t want to speak with you. So, what do you do in this situation?
Well, here’s a helpful way to think about this: When the prospect says, “You’re going to have to call me back,” you are under the impression that when you do call him back, you’re going to talk with him specifically to set up the appointment. Now, this is an important point.
You see, you’re not calling him back because you have nothing better to do. Instead, you’re calling him back because he asked you to call him back when you first called him with the specific purpose of setting up an appointment.
After all, using the basic approach, you said to him, “The reason I’m calling you today specifically is to set up an appointment.” Then, he responded by saying, “I’m busy. You’ll need to call me back.”
So, with that said, this is what your call will sound like:
“Good morning, Mr. Peters. This is Dave Miller from ABC Company. The reason I’m calling you today specifically is that, when we first spoke a few weeks ago, you suggested that I reach out to you in a month to set up an appointment. Does this Thursday at 2 pm work for you?”
On the other hand, here’s what you don’t want to say:
“When we spoke a few weeks ago, you said it wasn’t a good time. So, I’m calling you today to see if you’re interested in hearing more about us.” You see, this is just begging for a response such as, “No, I’m not interested.”
Or, let’s say you continue with, “I’m calling you today to see if now is a better time.” Now, if you say this, you’re simply encouraging the prospect to say, “No, it’s still not a good time.” And that’s because there will probably never be a better time!
Remember, your entire focus is to call back for the appointment. After all, that’s what you originally asked for, and that’s also the question he responded to.
