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A new restaurant opened near us this past week. They call it
"MT's." A neighbor told us that it had unusually good food and
an great wine list. Always ready to try a new place I asked
Bernadette, my wife, to book it for Saturday night.
First, she called directory assistance and asked for the number.
"No such listing she was told." Then, she called the neighbor to
make sure she had the name correct. Yup, the name was "MT's."
Next, she went to the internet and did a search by distance for
restaurants near our home. Nothing close to MT's came up.
Then, Bernadette called a guitar store that is in the same mall
as the restaurant. The guy at the guitar store told her that it
was part of "Butcher's Table," a gourmet grocery in the same
mall.
So Bernadette calls Butcher's Table. Sure enough, the operations
are run by the same people. Bernadette explains that she had a
real problem trying to get the correct phone number and asks for
it.
The owner explains that she has had many complaints like this.
The owner says Verizon has run out of phone numbers, and as soon
as they get some more "MT's" will have its own phone number.
She then asks Bernadette what she can do for her because she is
running the Butcher's Table and MT's.
It is about 11:00 AM on Saturday morning, and Bernadette says
she would like to make a reservation for 7:00 PM that evening.
The owner says: "Oh, we don't take reservations" but we do take
"Call aheads." Bernadette says,"Okay, I'd like to make a call
ahead for 7:00 PM this evening."
Great," says the owner. "I'm going to write this down as soon as
I hang up before I forget."
Okay - Bernadette's dealing with this on Saturday morning.
Here's what I'm dealing with.
The phone rings and I answer it - so far so good.
The person calling asks to speak with Beenadette Meeens"ah"hemma.
I respond with, "Sorry she's not here right now."
The person calling asks me if I'm an "authorized decision-maker."
Doing my best at exercising self-control at the "Idiocy" of this
question - I respond as calmly as I could with, "For what?"
She says, "For Verizon DSL services in your area."
I then said, "We're happy with our current provider."
End of conversation!
My observations with this call:
She sounded like she was 12 years old. Who knows?
Could barely understand her. Obviously poorly trained, if she
was trained at all.
She was reading from a script and still managed to do "Seal
talk." The "Ah's" and "Um's" peppered her end of the
conversation.
I'm a Verizon customer - all telephones in my house are wired
with them. I'm guessing they need more telephone numbers and
better employee training programs or they're going to start
losing business to competitors who have both.
It doesn't take much to sound pathetic to another person,
especially when using the telephone.
Every one likes to believe they sound good when they're talking
on the telephone.
There's only one true test and it comes in the form of a tape
recorder.
You only need to tape your end of the conversation so you don't
have to worry about getting permission.
Do yourself a favor and tape yourself for 30 minutes. Then
depending how it sounds you may want to get one of those airline
barf bags before listening to you recording.
Your customers and prospects get to hear you. You should hear
what they hear so you can make sure you're as good as you can be.
As you listen to your recording take notes. You won't need a
sales coach to tell you what needs to be worked on.
The journey of a long sales cycle begins with a single telephone
call.
Make sure it's a good one.
No-Brainer sales tip - make sure you know what you're going to
say before you say it.
It's pure insanity for you and your prospects to be surprised by
what comes out of your mouth 100% of the time.
Let's go sell something . . .
Jim Meisenheimer
PS - If you're truly a self-motivated entrepreneur or sales
person you should grab a copy of my new Special Report, "25 Ways
To Get Motivated For A Sensational 2009-2015." Included in this
Special Report you'll also find my 5 best time management tips
plus an extra bonus section called "Seven Ways To Get Off To A
Rock-fast Start In 2009-2015."
http://www.meisenheimer.com/products/srmot.htm
PPS - Without sales training most salespeople end up saying the
same things in similar situations. If you have an interest in
learning what not to say when you're talking to prospects and
customers you should add this popular CD to your personal
learning library. "How To Avoid Sounding Pathetic During A Sales
Call."
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=39581&off
erid=16002&q=2
About the author:
Jim Meisenheimer is the creator of No-Brainer Selling Skills.
His sales techniques and selling skills focus on practical ideas
that get immediate results. You can discover all his secrets by
contacting him at (800) 266-1268 or e-mail: jim@meisenheimer.com
Get Jim's Special Report titled,"The 12 Dumbest Things
Salespeople Do." http://www.meisenheimer.com
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