Oh, The Stories Managers Believe Their Salespeople Tell

Salespeople are a creative bunch, especially when it comes to the stories they tell themselves. These also happen to be the same stories that managers find themselves to be the unfortunate recipients of during many meetings, conversations or performance reviews. Unfortunately, rather than removing themselves from the story, managers find they are getting sucked into it, wasting valuable time and resources on a well fabricated issue that has no real resolution.

I refer to these illusions as S.C.A.M.M.’s which is an acronym for Stories, Cons, Assumptions, Meaning and Mindset.

A S.C.A.M.M. is an action, excuse, or belief you hide behind that justifies your circumstance, behavior, and performance, even your position on something, that provides you with an excuse so you do not have to be accountable for your responsibilities, goals, or the situations you put yourself in. The one commonality that each of these five words share is choice. At the very core, your stories, cons, assumptions, imposed meanings, and mindset are ultimately a choice.

Just ask salespeople who have to prospect to build their businesses. They can justify practically any activity that will take them away from prospecting, allowing them to major in the minor activities that act as diversions to doing what’s truly needed.

Once you’re able to uncover a salesperson’s S.C.A.M.M., the tactical coaching strategy would be to coach the person on rewriting their story from a place of challenging them on creating some other truths that may be possible, instead of jumping into and chasing their elusive story down the ever-winding rabbit hole with them. This is a key point not to be brushed by and critical to the impact you can make when coaching your salespeople. In other words, you don’t coach the story or feed into the story. If you do, you are coaching someone around a lie, something that doesn’t even exist. Instead, you coach the person on their relationship with the story they tell you in order to uncover the real truth of what’s going on.

What are some stories you may hear from your salespeople? I’ve listed a few of the more ‘popular’ fables that you can start to recognize the next time you hear a salesperson attempting to enroll you in one.

The Top Ten Lies We Tell Our Boss (And Ourselves) – And Actually Believe Are True

1. Fear of Failure (or Success): “I’m afraid of failure yet I won’t take the steps to ensure my success. Therefore, if I sit back and do nothing, then I can never fail at anything!”

2. Perfectionism/’Either Or’ Thinking: “Either I create the perfect (prospecting, time management, goal setting, management, coaching) system to use or I don’t do it at all. A similar perfectionism type of story is created by the type of salespeople I refer to as knowledge junkies. Their story can sound like this: “I’m still not ready yet. Just a little more training, research and due diligence, then I’ll be ready.”

3. Taking It All On: “I can’t delegate these tasks that other people may be able to do because they will never do it as good as I can.”

4. Been There, Done That: “The last time I attempted to build my business through prospecting it was a waste of time. Therefore, I know that prospecting won’t work for me.” (Did you ever consider that it was more your approach to prospecting that wasn’t effective?)

5. Playing It Safe: “Sure I’ve been prospecting. I mean, I’ve been targeting my current accounts to see if there are any service issues that need to be handled and whether I can get more business from them. After all, you need to take care of your current customers, right?” (Do you want to survive or thrive? Your choice.)

6. The Accountability Trap. “Of course I have a to-do list. I check things off as soon as I can fit them in.” Do you have a deadline associated with each task on your to-do list? A task without a deadline is another S.C.A.M.M. Writing down a long list of tasks or activities that are not scheduled and have no timelines or completion dates associated with them is another way to avoid accountability. Since you are keeping the timeline open ended, you don’t have to be responsible for completing the tasks by any specific date. No schedule, no commitment.

7. Not Having a Schedule. “I’m so busy that I don’t have time to create my routine! “The absence of a routine frees you from being accountable for certain things you’re responsible for or you may not want to do but have to do in order to reach your goals.

8. Everyone Comes Before Me: “I can’t say ‘No’ to my clients. I have to take care of them or they will go elsewhere, right?” Do you have a salesperson who has a hard time saying, “No” to clients and drops everything at their request? One of my clients, Mary, was telling me that she blocked out Mondays and Fridays for marketing, professional development, research and new business development activities. When I asked her if she honored this, she paused for a moment and then replied, “No.” Mary shared with me the fear she experienced about blocking out two full days, even though she knew that in order for her to build her practice this was a priority. So, inevitably, a client would call and ask to see her on a Friday or Monday. Rather than honoring the appointment she made with herself, she would set the appointment with the client. Mary said she had a real hard time saying “No” to her clients. After all, if she said “No” to them, maybe they would go elsewhere, right? Either that, or she felt her clients wouldn’t be able to meet with her at another time. What a S.C.A.M.M. Either you are going to run your life, or other people and circumstances are going to run you. Honor the commitments you make to others as well as the commitments you make to yourself. Besides, you cannot effectively take care and serve others if you do not take care of yourself first.

9. Interrupt-Driven: “I can’t focus on any task for very long because I am constantly being interrupted by people, situations, problems and new tasks I’m suddenly responsible for. It’s hard to get things done.” This easily distracted salesperson probably has a long list of tasks that never get completed. This person may also be an adrenaline junkie who loves the rush of working on overdrive when trying to do it all and juggle many unfinished and ongoing tasks. Do you become easily diverted or distracted by situations, new tasks or people rather than maintain the focus on your goals and initial objective? If so, you probably have a long list of tasks that never gets completed, because you feel that you’re always being pulled in a different direction.

10. Playing The Victim: “I can’t believe I wasn’t able to schedule an appointment with Mr. Prospect today. I feel so dejected and frustrated, too frustrated to do anything else productive today.” Do you allow one bad experience to snowball and affect the rest of your day? Rather than moving on and forging ahead, this allows you to go into a negative tailspin and destroy the chance of doing anything else productive for the remainder of your day.

The next time you encounter someone who is reluctant to take the necessary actions to achieve the results that matter most, there will always be some type of confining belief, story or S.C.A.M.M. at the core that is getting in the way. Think of it as an objection you may hear from a prospect. If you can uncover, address and defuse their story, you free them up to take the action.

The real danger comes when a manager starts believing and feeding into the story. Instead, try this approach the next time. Rather than coach someone on their S.C.A.M.M, have them rewrite and redefine their story in a more empowering way. For example, you can use the following questions to help them reshape their reality and their perception: “I can understand how you can feel that way. However, is there another way to look at this that might serve you better?” “Is this way of thinking helping you or consuming you?” What else might be true?” “How can you change your thinking around this in a way that would move you forward?” “What do you think it’s going to cost you if you continually buy into that line of thinking?”

After all, every S.C.A.M.M.; every story, belief assumption, worry and fear is created using the very same tool we use to define our goals and dreams; our imagination.

You may find that one or two (or more) of these behaviors describe some of your salespeople’s S.C.A.M.M.’s (maybe even some of your own), and this is actually good news! I never said that you would like bringing these truths to the surface. Although it takes a conscious effort to uncover other people’s diversionary tactics, it takes a lot of courage to admit that you use them, too. However, now that you have a greater understanding and awareness, you can do something about them.

When you notice yourself or your salespeople falling into any of these traps, you can choose to either continue engaging in the S.C.A.M.M., or make a better choice that will generate the results you really want.

Many of the strategies that we engage in today, whether in our thinking as well as in our actions, are often counterintuitive to what we may believe would be the solution to achieving our goals and objectives; especially as it relates to cold calling and prospecting for new business.

Here’s a sample of the top paradoxes of prospecting that make prospecting so challenging. However, once these paradoxes are woven into your thinking, you’ll notice how these contradictions will provide you with a competitive edge that no other marketing piece, feature or benefit of your product or service could even come close to.

1. You want the sale (appointment, demo) but you must detach from the outcome and have no expectation, since the sale is not the initial goal of prospecting.




2. You want the prospect to say “Yes” to taking the next step in your sales process but you have to qualify them first to see if there’s even a fit worth pursuing.




3. You want the prospect to buy from you but must learn to give value unconditionally, whether or not they buy or meet with you.




4. You want to deliver and push through your presentation but you must get the prospect’s permission even before you present.




5. You need to keep your eye on your objective, set your goals and plan your strategy for the future to determine the path to travel on but you must bring yourself back into the present moment during every prospecting conversation.




6. You want to make more money and achieve greater success in your career but you have to make the sales process about the prospect, instead of you, in order to do so.




7. You want to sell to each prospect you speak with but need to qualify them to see if you even want them as a customer. (Remember, if you want to build a business or career you hate, just find the people to work with who you just can’t stand.)

Lets face it. You and I both know that the ultimate objective of your prospecting efforts is to sell more and boost your income. However, to achieve this goal, it’s just not where you are going to focus your energy and thoughts.

If you can understand and embrace these paradoxes, you now have the opportunity to respond to each prospect in a healthier, more productive, and more enjoyable way.

Do you remember like it was yesterday where you could get away with connecting with your key accounts on a less frequent basis? Today, you must over-respond and over-communicate to the needs of your customers or risk losing them to your competition.

If you’re in the transactional selling business or are an order taker, then chances are, you don’t always have the strongest relationships with your customers. Therefore, more time must be spent fostering stronger relationships with key clients in order to insulate them for your competition. After all, tighter budgetary constraints = less spending = fewer and smaller selling opportunities = increased competition. Or does it have to be this way? What about this model.

Tighter budgetary constraints = less spending + making the needed adjustments in your selling strategy to account for this change = Capture greater market share.

This doesn’t mean calling on your key accounts just to “check in.” Just the other day, I received a voice mail from my credit card processing company. They were calling, and I quote, “Just to see how things are going.” Gee, this is certainly not the type of call that’s going to stimulate new sales or more sales.

Instead, have a better set of timely questions that will help you understand how the current economic crisis has affected the way they do business and make purchasing decisions.

Especially today, there are many salespeople who are hiding under their desk in fear not wanting to talk to their customers. This is a perfect opportunity for you to seize more market share.

The salesperson of tomorrow will continue to evolve into more than a salesperson, but a valuable resource and a trusted advisor throughout the entire selling process; and beyond.

This presents a huge opportunity to mine for additional upselling and cross selling opportunities.

Think about it for a moment. To develop the possibility for a sale, you have to uncover two critical things:

First, where the prospect or customer is now (Current State)—->
Second: Where They Want To Be (Desired State)

It’s your job to move them from their current state to their desired state through the use of better questions. If you want to know if your questions are being effective, just ask yourself this; are your questions giving you all of information you need to know about your prospect and their situation? The wrong questions will not only provide you with the wrong information but they will guide you right out of a sale and any selling opportunity that may have existed.

Below are the questions I mentioned I would blog about from the webinar series I delivered the other day for Hoover’s with Dr. Denis Waitley and Tom Hopkins.

Here are some relevant questions to explore with your current customers and prospects to uncover their priorities, how they are making purchasing decisions today and any upselling opportunities that may exist:

1. How has the current market/economy impacted your business?


2. What are you now doing differently as a result?


3. How have your priorities changed? What’s your single most important initiative?


4. How are decisions regarding (new purchases, existing purchases, working with current venders) made now? Has that changed?


5. How has this impacted the way you allocate your budget and your spending?


6. How is this all affecting you and your job?


7. How can I be a resource to you?

When prospecting, it’s going to be the following decision oriented questions that are going to move the sales process forward and motivate your prospect to want to buy from you. These types of discovery questions will enable you to develop a greater sense of urgency that will motivate them to make a buying decision.

1. Mr. Prospect If you could eliminate three of your biggest problems, headaches, or stresses as they relate to [STATE SERVICE/TASK] what would they be? (If there were three problems that you would want to see resolved with your current service provider what would they be?) (Ineffective solution, frustration, stress, etc.)


2. How does this (current problem, headache) affect you and your life? (Tie in the challenges they are experiencing to their position. What’s their personal cost as a result of these challenges?)


3. If you don’t make any changes, then what do you think it’s going to cost you over time? (What is it going to cost you by not changing? What additional opportunities do you think you’re letting pass by? How will this affect your bottom line?


4. Do you think there are opportunities you may miss out on by not changing? What cost do you incur by keeping things the way they are?)

Power Referrals – The Ambassador Method Will Build Your Social Currency

In today’s market, exploiting every vehicle you can to drive more prospects and more sales to you is crucial. The innovative will reign supreme, while those scurrying to simply do more of what they did yesterday wonder why ‘more’ isn’t the answer. What daily activities yield your greatest ROI? How are you then refining and re-inventing those activities to over respond to the needs of your customers?

Winning today requires re-thinking every activity you engage in, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. Just yesterday, I’ve incorporated a whole new system that has now enabled me to more efficiently respond to every email that’s sent to me or to my company, with less human resources being exhausted. It’s a win-win for my customers and for my company and it didn’t cost me one penny. I simply refined a system we already had in place and made it even better. Keep in mind, the old system was working fine, but working fine is what got all of us in the mess we’re in today. The “Good Enough Mediocre Mentality.”

Stop and think about how you generate new business? What new initiatives or ways of prospecting have you incorporated over the last few months? How proactive are you about pursuing referral business and the many business opportunities that are out there waiting for you?

My friend and colleague, Andrea Sittig-Rolf has just released her latest book entitled, Power Referrals: The Ambassador Method for Empowering Others to Promote Your Business and Do the Selling for You (McGraw-Hill, 2008).

What does this mean to you? An opportunity to tap into a new way of doing business and attracting more customers. And it all revolves around your ability to leverage your Social Currency.

I’ve included an expert from Andrea’s book below, defining social currency and how you can start building your own.

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Social Currency is the value we bring to the social networks in which we are involved. Think of all of the networks you are involved in; social networks, professional networks, family networks. In every network, you bring value to others in that network based on the people you know and the relationships you have. Social currency is what you have to “spend” by way of introductions you make to help the people in your networks get what they want.

So how do you determine your social currency? Think of all of your spheres of influence: the people you know and the networks you’re involved in. Your spheres of influence can include colleagues, associates, referral partners, prospects, customers, friends, family, and Ambassadors. The Social Currency Assessment will help you map and understand your individual strengths and how they can benefit those in your spheres of influence, your potential Ambassadors, and your actual Ambassadors.

Everyone has skills, abilities and gifts, and this assessment will help to hone yours for a clear understanding of what strengths you have and what assets you bring to the table in your Ambassador relationships. For those skills and strengths you don’t feel you have, it’s best to simply manage your weaknesses, and to build on your strengths.

Your spheres of influence and your strengths are just part of your overall social currency…

For more information about social currency and the new book Power Referrals: The Ambassador Method for Empowering Others to Promote Your Business and Do the Selling for You, plus a free online toolkit, click here.

Defusing Objections

Rather than react to an objection with a statement that creates an adversarial posture between you and the prospect (Example: defending your position, service, or product) respond to the objections you hear with a question using the three step I.G.O. Permission Based Selling Rather than react to an objection with a statement that creates an adversarial posture between you and the prospect (Example: defending your position, service, or product) respond to the objections you hear with a question using the three step I.G.O. Permission Based Selling™ process to defuse them. Here’s how.process to defuse them. Here’s how.

Tip From The Coach: Remember, after gathering the information during your discovery process, use this information to conclude your sales process and ask for their business. If done effectively, all you are really doing is reconfirming the information that they previously shared with you as to why they want to use you and your company – because you’ve satisfied all of their needs.

I. Isolate the objection
G. Gain permission to have a dialogue.
O. Offer solutions or new possibilities.

Step 1. Isolate the Objection:
Ensure that you are actually dealing with a valid objection rather than a smokescreen. You don’t want to overcome smokescreens because you can’t. That’s the inherent quality of a smokescreen; if you overcome one, the prospect will just create another one. Therefore, isolate the objection down to its core to see if the initial objection they shared with you is really the truth or if it’s something else. The “something else” could be that they don’t believe you, don’t trust you yet, don’t believe you or your product can help them, they may not be the decision maker, they have been burned before, they are simply having a bad day and you are their new target, and so on. Confirm whether the objection they shared is the core objection or if the real objection is actually something else. These questions will enable you to expose what their primary concern actually is.

Step 2. Get Permission: Get permission to discuss solutions and have a dialogue.

Now that you’ve smoked out the real objection, it’s time to offer a solution. However, the key for this conversation to work without you sounding like a high pressure or “cheesy” salesperson is to first get permission. You can create a new opening to overcome a prospect’s concern by asking for permission to do so.

1. “Mr. Prospect, if budget was no longer an issue for you, would you be open to exploring this in more detail?”




2. “Mrs. Prospect, if there was a way to make this slide comfortably into your budget, would you be open to discussing this in more detail?”

Use “If” Questions:
Reverse or take away the objection to determine if “not having a budget” or if “working with another vender” is the only thing that’s truly getting in the way. Now that I’ve hypothetically removed this objection, their response should be a “Yes,” which would then give me the permission to allow me to continue our conversation and focus on a solution; such as uncovering a measurable budget, a time they would have a budget, or the results they really want, rather than dwelling on the objection or the problem. Once again, keep in mind that if they respond with a “No,” then there’s still something else going on, you haven’t uncovered the core objection or another objection or roadblock that they haven’t shared with you yet.

Step 3. Offer a Solution:
If they say “Yes,” you now have a prospect who is interested in hearing more about the solutions you offer.

Tip From The Coach: Salespeople don’t overcome objections, prospects do. The only person who can truly overcome an objection is the prospect. Salespeople create the opportunity for this to occur through their effective use of questions. Selling is therefore the art of asking questions, listening openly and intentionally, and gaining information; not giving it.

The next time you hear, “It’s too expensive/ too much. The price is a bit too high,” here are some better questions to respond with.

1. Too high? How high is too high?


2. How much is too much?


3. How much were you hoping it would be?


4. I can understand wanting to stay within a certain range. However, would you agree that the price is an accurate reflection of the value in relation to the results you can expect (ROI)?


5. (If you sell financing.) What’s too much? The overall investment or the monthly installment you could make?

Tip From The Coach: Sell The Difference. Now, you are in a position to sell the difference not the full amount of the sale. For example, if the price is $7000 and they felt it was $2000.00 more than they wanted to spend, then you now need to build the value and sell the difference, the $2000.00 rather than the entire $7000.000.

When presenting to a client or prospect, regardless of any steps you’ve outlined in your presentation, there’s a big difference between convincing or ‘selling’ someone and enrolling someone, especially when you’re at the point in your discussions where you’ve identified some specific problems within the organization or with them. Now, you may be at the point where you’re going to share the solution and enroll them in the solution and more so, taking action and making a change.

Convincing/Selling: Changing someone’s stand on something through the use of force or argument. This often takes the form of a complaint, or reiteration of the problem. If there are people who in involved in your discussions who may have taken a part in creating the problem in the first place, this can be construed as a “Make wrong” and they may then feel compelled to defend their stance. This creates an adversarial posture between you and the other person. Once this happens, people have tendency to further defend their position, which often results in them shutting down their listening for the remainder of the conversation.

Enrolling: Stating the current situation without making anyone wrong while sharing a new opportunity for greater results or what may be possible. Stating the benefits of what a change may bring. For example, the beginning of an enrollment conversation may begin with, “Imagine if…......What if we can create an organization where…..”

Enrolling can also take on the form of asking questions. Besides, what do people believe more, what you say, or what they say? As such, if they voice the problem or a possible solution, then they would be more willing to act on it. Resistance is lowered, and they feel ownership of the solutions and would be more apt to act on it. Here are some questions to use.

1. If I could have your three biggest problems or headaches disappear, what would they be?


2. How do the challenges you’ve shared with me affect you, especially if you do not hit your goals?


3. What is it going to cost you if you don’t make any changes and continue the way you are now?


4. What solution or greater result would be worth changing for?


5. What would your company or division be like if you no longer had to deal with those issues anymore?

Here are a few questions to use when you’re in a situation where you need to acknowledge and respect the other person’s viewpoint, even though you may not agree. Or, maybe you simply need more clarification about their position on something. Instead of making them wrong or creating any confrontational posture between you, add another truth to the situation. Here’s how.

1. Can you please share with me your thinking on that?


2. May I share my view on that?


3. Is it possible that there may be more/other facts to consider?


4. What else is true about that?


5. Is it possible that there is another approach/solution here?

Uncover the specific benefits they want to realize, as well as the cost of not changing. Now, you can be in a position of enrolling them in the idea of actually taking actions to implement change to achieve these new results, without putting anyone on the defensive.

No one likes to be sold. Everyone wants to be enrolled. BTW, look for my new book, The Art of Enrollment, coming to you in 2009.

Here we are, in the third week of Hoover’s Customer Appreciation Month. This week’s focus: Presentation Skills and Closing the Sale.

So, I thought this story was apropos. My wife and I attended open school night last week. It was the first time we had an opportunity to sit down and listen to the plan that my daughter’s third grade teacher had for her students.

As an illustration of the importance of reading comprehension, she asked us to do the following exercise. “Read the following excerpt of this book and tell me what you think the story is all about,” she directed. She also informed us that 85% of the words would remain in the story and only 15% of the works in this excerpt would be removed.

After reading the story, she made her point. As parents, we may think that an 85% comprehension of a story would be fine for our children when reading a story, right? I mean, it’s practically 100%. However, the fact is, the omission of just 15% of a story greatly affects someone’s comprehension of that story. I’ve included the story below for your to read and judge for yourself.

Now, consider how this ties into the importance of a successful presentation. Think about how critical it is for you to not only develop and refine your compelling message and Most Valuable Proposition but to position and communicate it to your customer in a way that they truly hear and understand it. There’s a big difference between being heard and being understood. It’s your job to ensure you are communicating to your customers and prospects in the way they communicate and process information, then confirm that the message you sent was the message that was received.

The most effective presentations are going to be evaluated by the result, not the vast amount of information you can disseminate to a prospect. Keep your PowerPoint at bay until you’ve determined exactly what it is your prospects wants to hear and needs to learn. And remember, if you want to increase the impact of your communication and presentations, it’s your responsibility to make sure that 100% of your message is truly understood by every person you speak with.

2-5 Advanced Section 24

Pickle Puss by Pat Reilly Giff (Guided Reading M) (85% accuracy: 58 errors)

Emily XXXX jumped down the XXXX. She XXXX across the XXXX. “Wait for me,” her little XXXX, Stacy, yelled. Emily looked back.

“Stacy XXXX the XXXX door. She was XXXX a XXXX on her head. She had her mother’s high XXXX on her feet.

“You can’t go like that,” Emily said.

“I’ll take off my XXXX,” Stacy said. She dropped the XXXX. It XXXX on the grass. Emily closed her eyes. “XXXX.”

Stacy clicked down the XXXX. “Mrs. Baker will love my red XXXX.” Emily started XXXX the street. “Walk XXXX,” Stacy said. “It’s hard to XXXX up.”

Emily took Stacy’s hand. “Try. We’re XXXX XXXX.” At the next corner they saw Richard XXXX. He was XXX X under a bush.

“XXXX, Beast,” Emily called. “Where are you going?” he yelled.

“To the XXXX,” Emily said. “Today’s the day Fish for a Good XXXX starts. We can do it all XXXX.”

“Not me,” Beast said. “I XXXX enough in summer XXXX. Too much.” He sat back. “Besides, it’s XXXX. XXXX starts soon.”

“Emily’s going to fish,” Stacy said. “Right Emily?” Emily XXXX. “I’m going to get a pile of them.”

“So is Dawn,” said Beast. “And Jill, and Timothy XXXX.” He shook his head. “Too bad Matthew moved away. He’d like to fish too.”

“Did you hear from him?” Emily asked.

Beast held up one XXXX. “I got a XXXX. A skinny little XXXX. Matthew’s a terrible XXXX. I couldn’t XXXX it.”

“Come on, Emily,” Stacy said. “It’s too hot to XXXX XXXX.” Emily and Stacy went down the street. They turned in at the XXXX.

“XXXX,” said Stacy. “Lots of kids are here today.” Emily waved at Jill and Dawn. Then she looked up. There was a new XXXX on the wall. It was a picture of a boy fishing. He was fishing in blue XXXX water. Red and blue and tan XXXX fish swam in the water. Up on top said FISH FOR A GOOD XXXX.

“I’m going to get lots of fish,” Stacy said.

Emily shook her head. “You don’t have a XXXX.” “Mrs. XXXX will give me one,” Stacy said.

“No,” said Emily. “Not until you can XXXX your name. That’s the XXXX.”

Stacy stuck her lip out. She looked as if she were going to cry. “How can I learn to XXXX? Nobody will let me go to XXXX.”

Emily XXXX her XXXX (397 words).

Quite often when we think of qualifying a prospect, we believe this process to occur earlier on in the relationship. However, the qualifying process can take on many forms. Here are three different strategies you can incorporate into your prospecting efforts as it relates to qualifying your prospects at a much deeper and more rewarding level. You’ll notice new selling opportunities right in front of you that you never knew existed before.

#1 – Learn from Each Call – Conduct Valuable Research

For those calls where you feel you’ve given it your best effort and you’re just not getting anywhere:

“I do apologize for the intrusion as well as my approach. I can understand how people are a bit skeptical of a cold call. Quite frankly, so would I. May I ask, when making a decision on what [venders to choose, products to buy, services to use], how do you go about gathering your information? This way, if I ever get a second chance to speak with you, I can honor your decision making process and hopefully connect with you in a way that you are more comfortable.”

OR

“What would have made you more receptive to my call today?”

#2 – Prospect Your Prospects

For those prospects who may simply not be a fit, yet may know people who are:

“Mr. Prospect, thanks again for taking the time to speak with me today. I’ve certainly enjoyed our conversation. Based on what you are currently doing, it seems that our product is not a good fit for you. However, I hope our conversation reinforced what a great job your current vender is doing for you.

While there may not be anything I can provide you that would make a measurable difference in comparison to what you are doing now, maybe there’s another way we can work together. In your line of work, I’m sure you run across other people who have shared similar challenges that you had and might be looking for a better solution. If you know someone who is always looking out for ways to do things better and who you feel could benefit from our product, would you be comfortable referring them to me?”

Then, continue with: “That sounds great. Then may I ask who you know that would be a good candidate for our service?”

3 – Get Permission to Follow Up and Prospect Them

For those prospects who may now be in your pipeline and need follow up to insulate them from your competition, while keeping your finger on their buying cycle and when they may be ready to buy:

“Mr. Prospect, thanks again for your time today. Before we rap up this conversation, I’ve noticed that in the past, when I have attempted to reconnect with someone months after our first contact, many things have transpired. Changes in their position, in their company, or in their life often have tendency to divert even the best-laid plans. Since there are so many things that can happen in two months, I was hoping that I could stay in contact with you without stepping over the line and being annoying about it. With your permission, can I contact you from time to time with updates about our product or valuable information that you may find of interest as it relates to your business?”

A monthly newsletter, a free trial, an article of interest, a great new product feature or being a resource for additional needs they may have are just a few ways to deliver value during this “down time” and keep your finger on the pulse of every prospect you speak with.

With all this talk about qualifying and how to qualify a prospect, it’s critical to ensure that, especially those of you who are attempting to cold call for the first time or prospect in a more unique or innovative way than you’ve done before, you understand the difference between qualifying and judging a prospect.

To permanently eliminate any confusion, lets draw a distinction between what it means to pre-qualify and pre-judge someone, such as a prospect. If you read my cold calling book, you know that I’m a strong advocate of pre-qualifying anyone before you invest your very limited and precious time in meeting with or speaking with them. Conversely, pre-judging someone is something you do that shows up in the filter or barrier you have in your listening, which was created out of the assumptions you’ve already made about that prospect.

Here’s another way to distinguish between the two. When you are pre-qualifying someone, you are arriving at a conclusion that determines whether or not there’s a fit worth pursuing based on a defined set of criteria you uncover through the use of well crafted questions. You are solely focusing on the prospect, not yourself and what you have to gain or lose, to determine how you can add value or if there’s a match between the two of you.

Pre-judging said simply, is all about you. Here, you are relying on your faulty and costly assumptions, thoughts and beliefs to determine their needs and whether or not this prospect will potentially buy from you.

When you pre-judge someone, you’re making assumptions about them before you ask any questions or uncover many facts. Maybe you’ve judged them by their appearance, where they live, their type of business or industry, how they sound over the phone or a comment they made. In essence, you’re “already” listening and forming conclusions based on your defined set of criteria rather than the facts.

When you pre-qualify someone, you’re asking questions to uncover their specific needs and objectives, without making any assumptions. You are learning about the prospect based on the responses you hear from the questions you ask. You are being fully engaged and present in the conversation with that person, rather than in your own head forming conclusions or operating off your agenda. This way, you’re making a decision to pursue this prospect based on reliable intelligence instead of your overactive imagination. (Here’s another distinction: authentic fit vs. a pipedream. )