The two rules our targets play by when we make appointment setting calls and why we ignore them at our peril.
When you are making appointment setting calls, are you trying to respond to your target’s initial objection for the meeting with logic?
Most likely, you are responding to the initial ‘no’ you hear when trying to set an appointment the same way we were all taught to to do it: with the logic of your value proposition and through proven objection handling techniques we use once the target has engaged in a buying cycle with us. Unfortunately, if you are, you’re also fighting an uphill battle. Here’s why:
Most appointment making methodologies have us concentrate the majority of our effort on our opening message (make them an offer they can’t refuse) and then teach us to handle those first objections we receive with logic and by using the classic objection handling techniques that work so well when trying to actually close the sale. The problem with that approach is that it doesn’t work as well as we think it should. That is because until we get our target beyond their initial ‘knee jerk’ reaction of saying anything (including lying to us) to get us off the phone, logic has no place in their thinking. So, unless we really do have something they can’t live without, (in which case they probably would have already called us), we’ve got to get them to stop thinking about how to get us off the phone for a moment and open their mind to a short conversation before applying any kind of logic and good objection handling techniques.
Why is their initial reaction to us that ‘knee jerk’ reaction designed to get us off the phone, you ask? Two reasons:
- The law of the ‘Status Quo’ – our surveys indicates that less than five percent of our universe of targets is currently in the market for what we are selling when we call them…so they don’t think they need to talk to us when we call.
- The law of ‘Workus Interruptus’ – no matter when we call, we are interrupting that person from doing something…so they don’t want to talk to us.
Hence, they will do anything, including lie to us to get us off the phone. So, before we can apply our value propositions, we must get them into a frame of mind where that value proposition will be accepted with an open mind using Bridge Questions. (BTW, our methodology works just as well when the objection is truthful, too!)
If you’d like to read a bit more on the why the appointment setting process and selling within a buying cycle are different, click here and you’ll be taken to another blog addressing it in greater detail.
If you’d like information on how we get them past that ‘knee jerk’ reaction, or information on why no team of sales professionals has ever failed to at least double the number of Initial Appointments they were setting after going through one of our programs, give us a call or drop us a line. We love talking about the challenges of appointment making!
Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called Coldcalling101™. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations—the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 817 224-9900 or at bcaponi@caponipg.com. You can also find answers to many of your challenges in our books: Contrary to Popular Belief, Cold Calling DOES Work! Volume I: Effectiveness, The Art of Appointment Making and Volume II: Efficiency, the Science of Appointment Making.
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