Okay. We’ve already learned how to get an appointment with a prospect that could lead to a sale–even if that person isn’t the final decision maker.
But, what if the prospect really isn’t the right person to be speaking with? In other words, let’s say that you’ve confirmed that you really are calling the wrong person.
In that case, you may be wondering, “How do I get an appointment with the right person?”
Well, in order to find the name of the appropriate person to meet, simply ask, “Oh, then who should I be meeting with?” And suppose the person replies by saying, “You should get in touch with Jeff Sanders.”
Now, how do you use this information that you’ve just gained? Well, one possible response would be to call the right person and say the following.
“Good morning, Mr. Sanders. This is Patrick Myers from 123 Company here in Dallas. The reason I’m calling is that I just spoke with Bill Thompson in your organization, and he suggested that I call you and inform you about our company. He though you’d be interested in learning more about the work we’re doing.”
However, this isn’t the most effective approach. Instead, a better way to go about this is to just use what you’ve already found out.
In other words, you called Bill Thompson, and he told you that he’s the wrong person. Then, you got the name of the right person. So, simply call the appropriate person and say:
“Hello, Mr. Sanders. This is Patrick Myers from 123 Company here in Dallas. We’re one of the top sales training companies in the nation. The reason I’m calling you today specifically is that I just spoke with Bill Thompson in your organization. He suggested that I give you a call to set up an appointment so that we can meet together. I wanted to see if next Wednesday at 2 pm works for you.”
You don’t need to add any more detail at this point. All you need to say is that your referrer suggested you give a call to set up an appointment so that you can meet together. If you follow the approach as it’s been described, there shouldn’t be any concerns with your statement.
After all, you asked for the name of the person you’d be meeting with. And you can’t get together without setting up an appointment, can you?
Now, a common response that you’ll get from Mr. Sanders is, “Oh? Why would he want me to meet with you? What’s this all about?” And since Jeff Sanders didn’t know why you were calling to begin with, you can now further clarify by saying the following.
“Well, the reason I called Bill initially was that we had just finished working with ABC Company. We were effective in showing their salespeople how to increase their sales by getting more appointments. And when I mentioned that, he said that I should speak with you to set up a meeting so that we can get together.”
Now, the prospect has to respond. For instance, the person could say, “We don’t believe in doing that,” or, “We don’t think that’s a good fit for us.” And of course, if your prospects say that, you then reply by finding out what they do, how they do it, when they do it, where they do it, who they do it with, and why they do it that way.
Then, you use that information as the reason why you should get together. That way, you can help them do it even better by using your product or service.
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