Judy's and Sally's Blog

Ten Steps to a Positive Script Opener for Business to Business Sales

Whenever I hear of someone writing a script to talk to a prospect in order to sell them something,  I cringe,  because they are always written with the company or the sales person’s goal in mind. That seems right at first until you realize the customer doesn’t care if the sales person is a huge success or not.   In these few rules you can adjust your opener and focus on the customer. This will  make your approach customer friendly or customer centric as the generation teaching in call centers call it today.

If you are not true to your purpose which is to support the customer with your product or service, it will always come out in the tone of the words or the actual words you use.    Before I give you the quick ten tips, I have one more thing to add.  Find the decision maker.  No kidding, I can’t tell you how many times I have made a presentation and only to be told they have to ask someone else first.   It happens even to the best of us.   Here goes.

1. Obtain a list for your calls that has already been cleaned for the people who buy and use what you have.  Many a sales person has shot him or herself in the foot because the list was no good.  If you are selling Safety Supplies, it won’t matter everybody uses them but if you are selling Flowers, you may not want to call gas stations and small businesses.
2. What do you say after you say Hello! This is key to your success.  I call this “love-me-trust-me in the first 20 seconds.
3. This opener must be polite, non-threatening in any way, direct and business like.  the words simple the question should ask for permission.  If you ask permission, you will get less hang ups than you think and people will remember your politeness the next time you call.
4. To the Receptionist:  “May I please speak to the person in charge of your Safety Purchases, like hard hats, gloves, and glasses?”  Notice No company name or your name yet. That comes next when either asked for it or you are talking to the decision maker.
5. The law says you have to say who you are and where you are calling from but NOT to the receptionist.  You have to tell the decision maker in charge or it’s a talking violation!

1. Once transferred to the decision maker or person in charge, you must ask for permission again but this time, it will be after you announce who you are and what you are about plus add a benefit to the mix.  Caution: DO NOT USE THE WORD “TIME”  HERE.  Time is a negative word and should not be used.
2. 7. Don’t say:

• Do you any time?
• Could I have a moment of your time?
• Is this a convenient time?
• Always ask for a minute or some other question that gets you permission to keep on talking.  The worst openers are:
  • Time is important to both of us, so I won’t take up too much of yours.
• “How are you, today?”  “How ya doin?”  71% of businesses hate it. It’s off purpose.
• Here are a few examples:
  • Hello, Mr. Prospect, My name is Judy McKee with The Call Center Training Company.  We met at the ATA in New Orleans and you gave me your card because you were interested in The Positive Coach Approach,  do you have a minute?  (this is a warm opener….we already met.)
  • Hello Mr. Prospect, You don’t know me but my name is Judy McKee, I was at the ATA Convention – and thought you may be interested in a Train the Trainer Course we have that teaches your managers and staff the skills they may need to cut call time, and save money with our LAMA  call path control.  Do you have a minute to talk?
  • Good Morning, Mr. C, My name is Judy McKee with Airgas Safety.  We are one of the leading providers of safety gear in America.  Would you be the person who orders the Safety equipment, like hard hats, gloves, glasses?
  • Hi, Mr. Prospect, My name is Judy McKee,  the receptionist said you were the person in charge of training, and  McKee Consulting has a  Sales Training course for your trainers that may give make it easier for them teach Sales.  Do you have a minute to talk about it? (OOPS I said Training too many times.)  Do you have a minute?

8.  The Kicker Rules:

• Use “You” instead of “I”  so that the words will be about them NOT you.
• Put a Benefit statement in front of the permission question so the customer can know that it is to his/her benefit to listen to you.
• Use your first and last name.  It makes you a professional and important. (nobody cares about Judy from somewhere….. Judy McKee is a real name.
• After you find the decision maker, be sure that your second opening presentation is SHORT and ends on a question that is not manipulative, not aggrandizing but sincere and helpful.
• Always be friendly but NEVER familiar.  I got a call yesterday from someone named Mitch Crenshaw,  “Hi Judy,  this is Mitch Crenshaw, call me today at 760-555-5555.  Can’t wait to talk to you.”  Who is this?  I think he is a phony.

9.  Remember if you have a product worth selling, a product worth buying, you will         not have to worry about tactics.  Just make the customer “feel” right and        smart to talk   to you.  Make sure the client, the customer or the prospect knows the value of what it            means to him or her to take his or her valuable time to talk to you.  You will never fail          with this attitude.

10.  And one last thing: Give up judging and evaluating the secretary, admin assistant or receptionist.  Treat them just like the decision makers they are….they often decide to dump you.  If you respect them, get their name, treat them like real people, they will not forget because they are handling people who try everything to get past them.  They know it all.

Mitch Crenshaw????  Where in the world did you learn that “tricky” way of cold calling?  It’s so FIFTIES!

Judy McKee

McKee Consulting LLC

www.ThePositiveCoachApproach.com