I received the most ridiculous sales call I have ever received this week. It was left on my voice mail and went something like this:

“Hello, my name is ___________. My company is ____________ and I am the president. I’d like to leave my phone number so that you could call me in the next several weeks so that we can schedule a time for our phone conference. My # is _____.”

What is wrong with this picture? Unfortunately, just about everything. Let’s look:

• I don’t know who he is.
• I don’t know his company.
• I don’t care if he is the president.
• I don’t know what his company does.
• I don’t know how I could benefit.
• I am not going to call him back – he’s trying to sell me something.

Other than that, his call was great, wasn’t it? What should he have done? What would have been a better message? Let’s revisit the same call, with some changes.

“Hello, I’m __________, president of ______________. I understand from researching your company that you may be an ideal candidate for ____________. My firm specializes in _____________ and we may be able to help you. I certainly don’t expect you to return my call. However, if you’re so inclined my number is __________. In the absence of my hearing from you, I hope you’ll be in a position to accept my call in the next few days.”

What makes this better?

• It shows that he understands my situation.
• He ties in how he can help me.
• He indicates that he does not expect me to return his call.
• He leaves a degree of “intrigue.”
• He does leave his # - just in case.
• He indicates that he will be calling me in the next few days.

Sales is all about words. The correct words said correctly. Hope this helps. By the way, I’m not calling the guy back – it’s his job to call me, isn’t it?

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This post is a follow-up from Kevin’s post, “There’s No H In My Name”

It’s game day! You finally scheduled the meeting you wanted with that important prospect, and you’re feeling good about your chances at making the sale. Now you have to guarantee your appointment will shine. How? If you can answer these 20 questions satisfactorily, you are prepared to make the sale.

1. Have I done my research ahead of time?
2. What have I learned about this prospect?
3. Have I developed an internal advocate at the prospect’s place of business and what have they told me?
4. Who am I competing against for the business?
5. What do I know about my competition’s strengths and weaknesses?
6. What are my products’ strengths and weaknesses?
7. What is the buying cycle of my prospect?
8. What are their budget constraints?
9. What are the prospect’s previous buying habits?
10. What problems can I solve for the prospect?
11. How receptive is this prospect to new ideas?
12. Who am I meeting and how do I pronounce their name(s)?
13. Who else makes up the prospect’s internal support team? (Buffer? User? Internal Advocate? Check Writer?)
14. What position(s) do they hold within the company?
15. Have I confirmed the appointment?
16. Do I know how to get to the appointment location and how long it takes? Did I pack the directions? Did I build in an extra 20% worth of travel time?
17. Do I have everything I need for the appointment? (Relevant documents, pens, paper, brochures, business cards, calculator, testimonial letters, etc.)
18. Did I prepare questions in advance and do I have them with me?
19. Am I mentally prepared for the meeting? (Is my focus 100% on the meeting or is it elsewhere?)
20. Am I physically prepared for the appointment? (Clothes neat? Hair combed? Shoes shined?

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