One Simple Word Makes A Big Difference

  by Ann Barr

I am often asked to visit an office and sit with telephone sales reps to observe and listen to their calls, and then to offer ideas and make suggestions that will improve their results from cold calling.

In one such office the sales manager said, "Don't bother to listen to Lisa—she is the most successful at cold calling."

That statement made me curious, so after listening to the other telephone sales reps, I asked if I could observe and listen to Lisa to find out why she was doing so well.

What I learned was very interesting. (Lisa and her manager have given me their permission to share this with you.)

Everyone in the office wondered why Lisa was more successful at cold calling than anyone else.

She wasn't overly aggressive; in fact, she has a very pleasant telephone voice. She didn’t make more calls than anyone else. Yet she was able—consistently—to get better results from cold calling than everyone else in her office.

I listened very carefully to the wording she uses during cold calls. Then I discovered the reason for Lisa's success.

Lisa’s Success Story

She works for a company that sells copiers, fax machines and printers. Her job is to sell imaging supplies for office equipment—on the telephone.

She has a very pleasant voice, a positive attitude and a cheerful disposition. She is also enthusiastic when she makes her calls, a tone that comes across to her prospects. (Enthusiasm is contagious!)

Her territory includes a very busy downtown area in a major metropolitan city in the U.S. Her prospects are busy people, with very little interest in hearing from telemarketers—though they are often called.

What Lisa decided to do was to let her prospects know—at the beginning of her calls—that she wasn't going to take up much of their time. (Smart idea.)

EXAMPLE

When Lisa calls prospects to let them know about a sale on Hewlett-Packard LaserJet toner cartridges, she starts her calls this way (in this example, Lisa is calling a law firm):

"Good morning, Mrs. Jones, this is Lisa Monroe at [her company's name]. We specialize in providing law firms with top quality printing supplies and service."

And here is one of the keys to her success. She uses one word that makes a huge difference in her results: "I'm giving you a quick call today to let you know that our HP 5000 cartridges are on sale this week at a 20% discount. Do you need any of those?"

Did you catch that one simple word?

That one word "quick" lets her prospects know that Lisa is not going to take up much time. This puts them in a receptive frame of mind.

When she calls current customers to let them know about a new product, she uses similar wording: "Good afternoon, Mr. Smith, it's Lisa Monroe calling you from [her company's name]. I wanted to quickly let you know that you can now get a compatible cartridge for your HP printer at a 40% savings. These cartridges are backed by our 100% guarantee and customers are getting great results from them. Would you like to try one of these cartridges today?"

A WORD OF CAUTION

If you decide to use Lisa's wording—"… a quick call …" or "I wanted to quickly tell you… "—be sure that your call does NOT take up much of the prospect’s time!

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Ann Barr is a consultant and sales trainer who has

written eight books on sales and marketing
available on her web site www.sellingsupplies.com