Improve salesperson calls
It was a fall Sunday morning before a Denver Bronco game. I was playing fantasy football and desperately wanted to watch the pregame shows to make the best decisions for my fantasy team. There were bragging rights on the line after all, but instead of going to the remote, I went for my phone.
He had a small office in the basement of the house he lived in located in Thornton, a northern suburb of Denver. It was basically a hallway off the laundry room and my roommate was busy doing her laundry. I had to stand at my desk to let her in every time I needed to check things. There were several other places he would have preferred to be and other things he wanted to do. She didn’t want to be in that hallway with a phone to her ear while the clothes were scattered, but she had a goal to achieve. He needed to make 30 calls before the Broncos start.
This was my routine every weekend and most nights of the week. I had a great phone script, but it was tweaking that script, making it my own, and practicing on the phone that helped me succeed. I’ve bought over 50 homes by calling the sellers directly, and over the years I’ve learned over the phone what makes a successful investor. Here are three keys to cold calling salespeople that will make you successful.
Have a script. Routine breeds success. This is nothing new, but it is worth mentioning. The most successful people in the world, in any field, have a routine for what they do best. It may be a professional golfer, a builder, a waiter or waitress, or a school teacher. In business, if you find something that works and do it over and over again, you will become rich. It’s that easy. A script is his routine, it helps him work on a call, and should be used every time he makes a sales call.
Make the script your own. Although a hyphen is extremely important, it can also hurt you. If you follow a script you’re not comfortable with and read it word for word, you’ll sound nervous and stiff. This will make the motivated salesperson uncomfortable and want to end the call. It’s best to find a script that you can change up a bit to suit your personality. It’s also important to know that you should be prepared to deviate from the script and go with the call. Enjoy the conversation. That’s why I like real short scripts with a lot of flexibility.
Don’t sell over the phone. When I was just starting out, the script I was using had me make a creative offer over the phone. If the seller was open to the offer, he would set up the meeting and negotiate the numbers. It took hundreds of calls to get an appointment with a salesperson, because you were over-rating them by selling over the phone. Your time may one day be too valuable to meet with salespeople you may not do business with, but for most of us, getting the appointment with a qualified lead is the most important outcome. The way to do this is to rate your motivation and then schedule a time to view the house; the goal is not to reach an agreement over the phone. If they ask you for an offer, you can simply tell them that you need to see the house before you can discuss it and that they should invite you. The qualifying question in my script is: “Sounds like a great house. Why would you consider selling it?” The answer to this question will give me enough information to schedule a meeting or not.
Focus on “no” oriented questions and never get your leader caught. Many sales books teach “yes” oriented questions. Hearing the word is not scary and as salespeople we are taught to get our prospect to say yes. This is done by asking questions to which the only answer is yes. For example, you could say, “Most people are looking for the best price for their house, do you agree?” Of course they will agree to that. Doing this can create some discomfort and make them feel uncomfortable around you. People want to feel like they have options and give them the option to say that they can’t be powerful. A question like “Do you disagree?” will be much more powerful than “Do you agree?”
Another strategy often taught in sales that makes people uncomfortable is giving them limited options. I think this can be extremely useful and is a great strategy, but you have to be careful. A lawyer called me the other day asking for a donation. His questions were: “Would you like to donate the normal $50 or would $25 be easier?” This is a great closing when you have a good relationship with someone, so it could be very effective in a meeting, but he made me hang up. I do not know you!
Remember that the purpose of the call is to gather information and schedule an appointment. It’s not to close a deal, and it’s certainly not to trap a prospect in an awkward call.