| By Rebecca Gould My Sales Call Blunder It was after 7:00pm on a Friday, and most everyone had left for the weekend. I was still sitting at my desk, finishing up a project I was determined to bring to a close. The Principal of our consulting firm was still working on a proposal in his office, as well. The phone rang. Who could be calling now? It's 7pm on a Friday! I answered the phone. "Wellesley Hills Group, this is Rebecca Gould, can I help you?" Nothing. There was some crackling in the background. "Hello?" I repeated, only to hear further amounts of static. I was about to hang up when finally a woman's voice emerged from the white noise. "Yes, hello," she started. "My name is Susan and I'm calling from Costa Rica. I'm calling about an event we're having in Boston..." Susan from Costa Rica said something about looking at our website. Since it was 7pm on a Friday, I might have wanted to be on a beach in Costa Rica, but I didn't want to hear about any events about Costa Rica. "I'm sorry, I can't talk now. Thank you for the call and have a great night." I said. Whoever calls, I'm happy to listen to them to hear what they have to say. You never know when someone will have something interesting to talk about. I just didn't have time so I gave the standard, "No, thank you" line because I made commitments to get something done. And I wasn't leaving until I met those commitments. The worst thing was that I then started wondering. Was Susan really a business developer from her firm, or did she need some help with something from us? Sure enough, the phone rang again. I answered. "Hi, this is Susan calling from Costa Rica again. I'm afraid we may have had a miscommunication." Uh oh. "I'm sorry?" I asked. So I started to listen. Susan explained that she had found our website online and was interested in learning about how we could help her company market some seminars they were holding in the Boston area. Being a marketing consulting firm, this was, of course, right up our alley. Whoops. I apologized to Susan. Luckily, Susan seemed relatively unaffected, and I put her on hold as I went to speak with the Principal, who, while he was also ready to go home, took the call. It turns out that the call went very well, too. Not only was Susan qualified, but after a series of conversations later the next week, she became one of our clients. So why am I sharing all of this? Because I learned some very valuable lessons that evening; lessons that I believe many other people could benefit from, as well. - Listen Carefully
All too often, we think that we've heard it all before. One client is the same as the next. One website's needs are the same as the other's. One static-filled, late-at-night phone call is the same as the one last night.
We must force ourselves to stop our minds from wandering whenever this starts to happen, and listen up. If you don't, you could really miss something, whether it be an opportunity to cross-sell more services to a current client, or get to a breakthrough moment while selling to a new one. Every conversation, whether it is with a client, prospect, or anyone else, is guaranteed to be different. If it sounds the same to you, then you weren't listening closely enough.
- You Never Know Who You'll Meet And When
Life is funny like that. We all know that "things happen when you least expect them" – and that goes for networking with prospects and selling your services, too. Just because it's after business hours, or because you're in the grocery store and not by your computer, doesn't mean that you won't have the opportunity to start or continue building a meaningful business relationship.
- Excellent Client Service Goes A Long Way
Obviously, while it was not my intention, I did not demonstrate great client service at first while speaking with Susan. However, I tried to recover quickly. Then the Principal at my firm continued demonstrating better service and stayed on the phone with Susan for over an hour…bringing him past 8pm on a Friday. He did this not because he was trying to close the deal (because that doesn't happen on the first sales call while selling complex services), but because he was truly trying to understand her situation and how we as a firm might be able to help.
So the next time the phone rings, or you find an unexpected visitor at your office, or you run into someone while shopping – be sure not to dismiss them too quickly, even when you're in a rush. Stop what you're doing, focus on the interaction, and keep an open mind—you never know who may be in need of your services. |