Selling Skills

“I have a hot lead” and other lies we tell in sales meetings

Because every program I present is custom crafted to that specific client’s needs and company culture (which allows me to work with clients who compete because their needs are different and their culture’s always are), I always ask for lots of examples (writing, phone scripts, etc) so I can do what I say I will – design a practical and precise program to help them convert more of their prospects into happy customers.

It’s truly job security (though I wish this wouldn’t happen – really!) when I receive comments from sales teams (as I received today), and this is an exact quote: You can see by the client’s reply that these e mails are well received from the planners.

Except that the planner/prospect wrote back to the salesperson’s prospecting attempt:
Thank you for sending me this information. It is very helpful to have a local XXXX to reach out to me regarding dinners in XXX. I will keep your information on hand when I start making dinner reservations in the upcoming months.

If I were a gamblin’ woman, I would bet that the sales person even reported in the sales meeting, “Woo-hoo! I have a hot new lead!”

And maybe it is a hot lead. And maybe it’s just a sweet prospect trying to brush the sales person off much like I do when a financial planner/new gym calls me (yes, I know they are different but they sound the same on the phone) and I say, “Oh great, please send me information. I’m really busy right now.”

Did I want the info? Maybe? Do I want them off the phone? Most definitely!

Hearing that the prospect will keep your info on file is not good sales news! That sales person needs to:
#1. Write a better prospecting email.
#2. Take control of the next step.
#3. Make it easy, easy, easy for the customer to make those reservations.
#4. Follow up. Not to sell but to serve.

Change your approach and you change your results. And please never again report a hot lead when you have no idea if it is.

Leave a Reply

X