Sales 101: First Approach - Rule #2 - Pickup the phone and call, but…

You have the name and the number of the CEO. What do you do next? Call. But don’t call at lunch time. Don’t call at 9am. Don’t call at 3pm. These guys are busy. They’ve got stuff to do. Yes, they are waiting for your call because you will offer them something that they cannot refuse but still, your call needs to come in at the right time. So what’s the right time?

Rule#2 - Always call the top executives between 7:30am and 8:30am or 5:30pm and 6:30pm

Bloggers live high-life. They get to wake up whenever they want to and go to sleep whenever they want to. But these corprorate/busienss types especially at the very top, they’re trained and disciplined to come in early and leave late. There are a few reasons why calling before work hours and after work hours will get them on the phone:

Early:

1. The gatekeeper is not in the office yet. She usually arrives at around 8:40am, by then you are done talking
2. Early morning is the time when there are no hard pressed issues that need to get resolved and their mind is fresh, ready to hear out new ideas.
3. The gatekeeper is not in the office yet.

Late:

1. The gatekeeper is gone for the day. She usually leaves at 4:30pm or 5pm
2. The only people who may be calling after 5:30pm their direct line would be family members ie wife to find out when he’s coming home for dinner, therefore he will pickup the phone.
3. The gatekeeper is gone for the day.

Rule #2.1 Always call with a clear purpose. And the purpose of a warm call is to schedule a 10 minute face-to-face meeting.

Rule #2.2 Always use *67 when making the call

Rule #2.3 Never, ever, ever, leave VOICE MAIL

When was the last time you called back someone other than your friend or family member who left you a voice mail? That’s right. They won’t call you back either. There are sales coaches who say VM is a selling opportunity… well, don’t listen to that advice. It is not.

Did you ever hear yourself or others on a voice mail recording? First of all VMs are not your studio quality recorders so your voice sounds distorted. Second, most people have, through time, adopted a voice mail/telephone personality which is different from your regular self. And thirdly, rule #2.1 states that you are calling with a clear purpose to schedule a meeting, how are you planning to do that with a voice mail? Are you just going to say that you will be coming to their office on Tuesday morning at 9:30 so be pen-me-in into the calendar. I don’t think so. Don’t leave a voice mail. Call until you get through. I once called a guy everyday for two months straight. But when he picked up the phone I made sure that I got a 10 minute meeting with him and I’ll tell you how in the next post.

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