What’s Up With That?
During the course of the past week, I have taken phone calls from sales representatives of various companies. I need to point out that these companies are organizations which I found on the web and completed their information request form. I asked for their salespeople to contact me.
Now, I hasten to point out that I contacted these organizations. I indicated that I was interested in buying their products or services. And, by all definitions of a sales lead, I was clearly a “warm lead”.
What ensued next, with all three calls, was shocking. All three of the salespeople called almost immediately, so they all get an A+ for promptness.
But all three, from three different organizations, started their presentation by asking “What do you do?”
I responded by saying, “Have you been to my website?” None, and I repeat, none of the three salespeople had visited my website.
Use Obvious Tools
In a world where getting information about a prospect is so easy, it can almost be deemed sinful to not take a moment to visit your prospect’s website.
Personally speaking, I found it somewhat insulting. After all, these people were contacting me as a result of my interest in their product and service.
My interest stemmed from the fact that their websites indicated that their products and services might be able to benefit me.
For them to present themselves as a solution provider:
Who didn’t take the time to visit my website to understand what I sold
Showed me that they really weren’t interested in helping me solve a business problem for my company
But, rather, they were only interested in gaining a commission from their company.
If you present yourself as being purely and uniquely interested in taking an order, and do not present yourself as a sales representative who is interested in and capable of solving a business problem, then in a very real sense you’ll find yourself well and greatly behind the proverbial “8 ball”.
Take 30 seconds, go to every prospect’s website, and do a little bit of pre-call research, at bare minimum.
But, never ask a prospect “What do you do?” and let the prospect know that you don’t have enough interest, motivation or energy to ascertain that brief bit of information.
What’s your opening statement?
