In B2B how do you break down the initial barrier with a secretary or receptionist and find the quickest possible way to talk to the decision maker? Do you have a special technique for doing so and qualifying the person over the phone so you don't waste your time.
Clever scripting usually gets you past the "gate keeper."
To develop the right script, you need to focus on the decision maker, and his relationship with the gate keeper. The gate keeper is there to protect the decision maker's time. She is there to help him do his job more efficiently, and avoid distractions.
Therefore, it is your job to make it obvious to the gate keeper that speaking to you is either customary and/or necessary.
Who are you calling?
If you're calling commercial property managers, find out which property each manager manages, and refer to that specific property.
If you're calling facility's managers, say that you're calling about a "facility's related inquiry." Or use the word "concern."
You might want to begin by viewing the admin or office manager as your ally. During your initial cold call, you need to pre-qualify the prospect. In other words, you need to know that you're talking to the decision-maker.
People often trip themselves up trying to figure out who the decision-maker is, even when it comes to asking the person on the phone. One easy way around this is just to make friends with the secretary or receptionist.
Don't overlook her (it's a female 98% of the time). Don't talk past her or over her. Don't sound like you're in such a rush to get off the phone with her. In most cases, she is there to help you, to make sure that you get to the right person.
I'll give you an example in my own experience. Just yesterday, I called the decision maker for a large firm I'm trying to close. The deal is worth six figures, possibly seven to me.
As you can imagine, the DM is very busy, working on a multitude of high-profile projects. We've had several phone meetings, and now it is time to get to the closing process.
But he's so damn hard to get on the phone.
Fortunately, I've made the acquaintance of the office manager. I recognize her voice when she answers, and she knows mine. She's helping me coordinate a meeting with the DM, passing messages back and forth between us, allowing for seamless communication that would otherwise be impossible (the guy rarely answers his phone, responds to an e-mail almost never).
When you're selling B2B, you need all the allies you can get. If you're selling big-ticket items, where you can make five, six or even seven figures on one sale or on one client, then you need to tilt the odds in your favor in every single situation.
The office manager/secretary/receptionist/administrative assistant can make or break you.
Put yourself in the decision maker's shoes. Imagine if his receptionist says:
A) "Sir, that nice, cool, interesting, sweet, professional guy called back to see what time you wanted to schedule that webinar..."
versus
B) "That annoying, rude, abrasive, arrogant, obnoxious sales person called... again."
Are you seeking 100% commission sales reps?
You're young, how do you get past that? Or, if so how do you make it an advantage?
I was 26 years old when I sold the corporate headquarters of Abercrombie and Fitch an electricity contract from First Energy Solutions.
They signed a three-year deal worth tens of millions of dollars in total revenue.
In that one deal, I produced more total business than many seasoned sales guys twice my age have produced in their entire careers.
The entire business decision took four days. From the time I contacted the decision-maker, to the time I got pricing, to the time I closed the deal - got the signature on the signature page from the head of facilities - it only took around 96 hours, and this all happened on the phone.
I was also the first energy broker to sell an electricity contract to a downtown office building in the AEP Ohio territory post deregulation circa 2009 - 2010.
So, how did I get past my age? My phone skills have allowed me to stay behind the scenes and sell decision makers 1.5 to 2.0 times my age.
Using the phone to get past my age allowed me to turn my age into an advantage. Like many millennials, I have strong research and analytical skills. However, unlike most millennials, I use these skills towards the acquisition of market data.
He who has the best market intelligence wins, just as - in warfare - he who knows his enemy (the competition), knows himself (his business, his capabilities) and knows the terrain (the marketplace, the customer, the industry, the needs, the problems, the solutions, etc) will never be in peril.
I use the gifts of youth - my skillz with the internetz - to find the best lists, information on corporate and business players.
I use advanced technology to run circles around ordinary salespeople. Most salespeople don't use a dialer; they pick up the phone, and make the calls manually. This only wastes time. If salesguy A and salesgirl B are both equal in skill, talent and work ethic, and salesguy A dials manually while salesgirl B uses a dialer, then salesgirl B will outperform salesguy A by 300%. Period.
For anyone trying to 10X their sales efforts, using a dialer is an obvious way to get a quick 3X boost.
Using dialers and advanced research reflects a millennial mindset, working smarter and not harder.
The phone sales game is a simple numbers game. The more calls you make, the more leads you get, the fatter your pipeline fills, and then it's a matter of your closing ratio.
In mastering the phone, I mastered the most powerful sales tool in the universe. The phone is the way to force your way into the marketplace, and make people listen to your message.
