, the typical sales person thinks positively all the way to
work. He affirms that he is excited about all the cold calls he is going to
make. Having heard how powerful visualization is, he might even visualize
himself making cold call after cold call and having tremendous success. Surely
this will be the day he takes over the sales world and attracts new customers
and business like crazy.
When we take a peek at this same sales
professional in his office just an hour later, we hardly believe our eyes.
Instead of calling one prospect after another (as his attitude convinced us he
would), we find him taking care of busy work on his desk instead. If we could
see the thoughts going through his head, they're decidedly different than those
we heard this morning:
"You can't make that call now. You don't feel
comfortable. Go get a cup of coffee and get ready for the call. Look at your
desk. How do you expect to generate any more customers with your desk in such
disarray? You need to get organized before you go collecting any more
customers." etc., etc.
Perhaps you're familiar with The Third Man, by
Graham Greene. The story begins with Holly Martins arriving in Vienna at the end
of World War II. He's been offered a job by an old high school chum named Harry
Lime. Right after his
arrival
Cameron
Jordan Jersey , he learns that Harry was killed in an auto
accident.
To make a long story short, the rest of the story revolves on
Holly trying to understand the truth around Harry's death, while simultaneously
trying to win over Harry's beautiful, former girlfriend. If you see the movie
version, you won't see the character that plays a critical role until the last
few minutes of the story.
Why do I mention this classic story? I mention
it because it reminds me of the sales process. Typically, the highlighted
characters in any sales training are the salesman and the prospect, but the
character that portrays a critical role is almost never mentioned simply because
it isn't visible. Similar to The Third
Man
Brandon
Coleman Jersey , the character may not be seen, but the effects of that
character are blatant and destructive.
Plenty of sales trainers will talk
about the relationship between the sales professional and the prospect, but they
fail to ever mention "the third man" in the sales world. This third man is so
rarely spoken of that most sales people don't have the slightest idea how to
deal with it, and because of that, they fail to make most of the sales calls
that they actually desire to make.
So who is "the third man," this
critical player, in the sales business? Fascinatingly
enough
Brandin
Cooks Jersey , this critical player isn't real in the sense that you can
see it. But you can definitely see its negative effects. It's sometimes referred
to as an inner committee. I often refer to that voice inside our head as "the
trouble thoughts."
You would be hard pressed to find a sales professional
who isn't familiar with those trouble thoughts that talk him out of making calls
now and convince him to wait for a better time to make sales calls or cold
calls. The definition of just what is a better time to call varies. It can be
when one won't bother his prospect, when one won't interrupt his prospect, when
one is better rehearsed or better organized, when one has more courage, when one
has more confidence, when it's not so early, or when it's not so
late.
Perhaps the most frightening aspect in this entire call reluctance
scenario is that most sales professionals believe they are alone. They wouldn't
dare speak about their fear of cold calling or about all the reasons they
postpone making sales calls because they think they are the only ones doing
that.
Consequently
Bobby
Hebert Jersey , they believe there is some secret they have yet to learn
before they can make all those calls they need to make.
Again, they're
waiting... waiting for that secret to be revealed - the secret that will make
all their prospecting fears go away.
From my own sales experience, I've
learned that the best time to call a prospect is as soon as I think about
calling him. Waiting for a better time usually results in one of two things -
never finding the right time to call that prospect, or waiting so long that by
the time the call is finally placed, the prospect is already doing business with
someone else and no longer requires the suggested product.
Effectively
teaching sales professionals how to overcome the fear of cold calling and to
"seize the phone" doesn't necessarily require a lengthy process. I prefer to
compare that process to a baseball player going up to bat, and naturally having
the goal to hit the ball, run to each of the
bases
B.W.
Webb Jersey , and finally cross over the home plate and
score.
Getting to first base involves coming face to face with that
critical player, the voice that talks one out of making all those calls. By
revealing that voice as the liar that it is, sales people discover they can move
on to second base.
Moving to second base requires learning how to detach
oneself from the persistent voice that nags and distracts but never points one
in the right direction. By effectively dismantling the seeming hold that fear
has on them, sales professionals can move on to third base.
Getting one's
feet firmly planted on third base occurs when sales people see more to their
business than the exchanging of goods and money. By opening their eyes to
recognize the potential ongoing value they create and the good that unfolds
simply by contacting others on the telephone, they learn the greater aspects and
opportunities of their business.
Finally, all sales people need to learn
that getting to home plate is only accomplished when they take their foot off of
third base. They must come to grips with the fact that the sales process is a
continual cDo You Need New Methods To
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