The Lost Art of Selling Over the Phone
The more business owners I speak with the more evident it is that we, as a society, are losing the one most important skill that makes a business work. That skill is selling.
I recently re-read Robert Kiyosaki’s “Before You Quit Your Job” (an awesome book if you haven’t read it) and he repeatedly makes the point that an entrepreneur must be the best salesperson in his or her organization. He also goes on to say that if a business owner is not comfortable selling he or she had better find a partner that is or go back to being an employee.
I must admit that I took a bit of offense to that suggestion as I didn’t consider myself a good salesperson and I was anything but comfortable prospecting for new customers. In fact, my own book, “Nice People Can Sell” was spurred on by my dislike for selling and my desire to find alternative methods of developing sales.
After giving it some more thought, I must admit that Robert is right. Most small businesses struggle not because the owner doesn’t know how to provide a good product or service. Most struggle because that same owner is not comfortable selling that product or service.
I believe that is why marketing is such a lucrative area to be in. Every entrepreneur wants the phone to ring. They want their websites and marketing materials to find and educate qualified sales prospects and get those prospects to phone or contact them for further information. In fact, that is what I have built this site and practically all of my efforts around.
However, here is something that I’ve been noticing especially over the last 12 to 18 months. Simple alternatives for contacting hard-to-reach sales prospects (such as personalized email) rarely work anymore. It used to be that I could find a decision maker’s personal email address somewhere, send a note and at least get an appointment. Not anymore dude.
I don’t know if emails are going to spam or if people are just ignoring emails from anyone they don’t know but everyone I know has seen a dramatic drop in this form of sales prospecting.
The good news is that while business owners have been flocking to the Internet and more sophisticated forms of marketing, one network is getting less crowded. Yep, the phone lines. If you’re able to get through to decision makers and present your solution in a non-obtrusive and casual manner, you’ll be miles ahead of your competitors.
Personally, I haven’t perfected this method yet but I am getting more comfortable with it. And more comfortable usually translates to better results very quickly.
If you are like I was and you have an aversion (maybe even a phobia?) when it comes to picking up the phone, I suggest you get over it. Easy said than done, I know but the long-term results are well worth the short-term discomfort.
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