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Your son
is on the same soccer team as Fred Smith, president of Big
Rich Bank of Georgia. You see Fred all the time and you’d
love to have him as a client of your firm.
Do you
call him?
If you’re
like most professionals, the answer is no.
But those social relationships can become business
relationships with a simple telephone call, a script and
some guts.
Step 1:
Greeting.
Say “Hello” and find a way to make the connection.
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For example: “Hi Fred, this is David Jones. We know
each other through soccer. Your son Jimmy and my son Clay
are on the same team. ”
-
Be
prepared to make a little small talk. But don’t linger
too long before getting to the point of your call, which
is step two.
Step 2:
Transition to Business/Identify a
Challenge or Opportunity. Briefly describe what
you know about the customer’s business and hint at some
challenge or opportunity where you might provide help.
-
For
example. “Jim the reason for my call is that I
understand that your firm is facing some challenges in the
area of business acquisition. We have some clients that
are dealing with similar challenges and we’ve come up with
a neat solution for them.”
-
The key
here is to show that you know something about his business
challenges and that your business can provide solutions.
-
Keep it
tight. Your job isn’t to provide the solution over the
telephone. If he wants to know more, tell him a little
but quickly get to step three. For example, “We were
able to save XYZ corporation $10 million by re-engineering
their due-diligence process. I’d like to discuss it with
you more next week . . . ” And on to step three.
Step 3:
Ask for the meeting.
When asking for the meeting, hold out the possibility that
you could provide solutions to their problems.
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For
example: “I’d love to meet with you to discuss how we
could help your firm be more successful with those
acquisitions. Are you available to meet next Wednesday
morning?”
-
Ask for
a specific time and you’ll get more meetings than if you
ask “Would you like to meet?”
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Be
prepared for your contact to suggest that you speak to someone else. A
referral is usually a great result.
Once
you’ve written out your script, practice saying it out loud
a couple of times. And then pick up the phone and dial.
What are
you waiting for?
Pick up
the phone!
If you
want to learn how to sell yourself and your business, call
Speechworks at 404-266-0888. Or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net. |
