7 Ways To Condition Decision Makers To Disregard Your Prospecting Efforts

My phone rang at precisely 9:45 am on Tuesday, much as it had for the last 11 Tuesdays. The caller ID confirmed my feeling that it was the same rep, the same message, but in his defense, it was a different Tuesday. I let it go into voice mail and prepared myself for the second wave of the attack!

3 minutes later, I get an email that I’ve looked at for the last 11 Tuesdays. The email directs me to the voicemail as if I’m incapable of knowing I received a voicemail. Right on time and totally predictable! I scan the first sentence or two and then send the email to the land of the deleted.

It made me think of how many times a day we condition that person on the other end of the phone to say “NO” to us or at the very least, let them see us coming from 100 miles away so . . .

I’ve compiled a quick list of things that you need to be careful to avoid conditioning prospects to reject and or disregard you!

1) Calling on the same day and time each week: Be careful not to schedule your follow-up in your CRM in a manner that makes you predictable. The only time I would break that rule is if I know definitively that Ms. Prospect always answers her phone on that specific day and time.

2) Using the same prospecting venue all the time. If you use nothing but the phone, you are going to bore the hell out of someone real quick. Same with email or any other venue. Change it up, mix it up. Everyone has their preferred method of communication so why would you limit yourself by clinging to only one? My inner smartass wants to remind you that it’s 2022 and there are lots of prospecting venues available.

3) Using the same weak message on all “touches” (calls, emails, etc). Nothing gets a yawn out of someone faster than a message that lacks impact. It was the great Jack Welch who said “Your job is to never be boring. If you are boring, slap yourself” Realize that when you call or write numerous emails in a row, you become robotic.

Take some time to think about your message and more importantly, trade places with the prospect.

What kind of things would catch your interest if you were the buyer of your service?

What kind of opportunities are there (through your product or service) for the prospect to sell more, be more profitable, have a better image, have happier customers & shareholders, have quicker to market turn times, get more market share, lower employee turnover, etc.

Here’s a crazy thought; How about referencing something you learned about them in your meticulous pre-call research and then mentioning how you might be able to help?

Talking about those things sounds so much better than some overused marketing speak.

Note To Sales Managers . . .

I would ask your sales reps to bring copies of their emails to your next sales meeting. You can all take turns reviewing and critiquing them. You can even compile a master document with all the different emails on it so everyone can add to their arsenal. You’re welcome!

4) Over persistence! I think our competitive nature gets the best of us sometimes especially when it comes to people blowing off our calls.

We seem to get extra motivated to “wear them down” when in fact we may have crossed the line into the dark territory known as “being a pain in the ass”.

No one is telling you to give up, but you need to understand that there’s a middle ground called “letting things cool down and then heating them up again at a later date”.

Don’t make this mistake . . .

Doing more of the things that aren’t getting you a response.

In other words, try something different like I don’t know, something other than a phone call!

5) When engaging a prospect, avoid a “No” question. A “No” question is any question that could be answered with either a Yes or No. People will default to No more often than Yes simply because it’s safer and gets you off the phone quicker!

6) Demonstrating a lack of preparation: I know for a fact that there are people who feel you should just get on the phone and call. They will tell you that you don’t need to prepare and it’s simply a numbers game.

I believe that the quality of our relationships rests in the quality of our communication. The quality of our communication rests in our ability to ask intelligent questions.

If you don’t have at least a basic (as in let me take a quick trip to Google) knowledge, you can’t possibly deliver the proper impact (certainly not the same level of impact) had you done the basic research.

I can tell you from being on the receiving end of poorly executed calls that it’s rather disrespectful to call anyone, let alone someone at the C level, and not know a damn thing about them or their company.

7) Using clichéd rebuttals: When you spew things like “That’s exactly what the ABC Company said and now they’re my best customer” or any cute variation of “Feel, Felt and Find” you need to understand that you will usually encourage a response that’s less than favorable.

One more thing . . .

I’m going to fess up and tell you straight up that we’re not talking about anything cutting edge on that list I just gave you!

We’re just talking about slowing down long enough for you to challenge some of your habits;

Habits that might be, in fact, be;

Encouraging people to say “no” to you more regularly!

50 Ways To ROCK Your Cold Calls, Emails, and Sales Messaging!

I put together a special download for you to help you bring your prospecting up a notch or three!

Here’s what you’ll discover during this download;

How To Automate Your Pre Call Planning Research WITHOUT Clogging Your Inbox With Google Alerts.
A 4 Step Messaging Framework That Works With Emails, Cold Calls, Snail Mail, LinkedIn, Etc.
How To Capture Your Dream Client’s Attention In The First Sentence Of Your Emails, Calls, and Snail Mail.
The 3 Email Templates That Consistently Generate Appointments.
10 Subject Lines That Intrigue The Reader and Increase Your Open Rate.
How To Create A BETTER Phone Script WITHOUT Sounding Scripted. I’m Also Going To Send You The Template.
How To Use “Potato Chips” In Your Messaging To Make The Recipient Hungry For More. Alright, stop pressuring me, I’ll give you a template for this!
The 2 Types Of “Pattern Interrupts” You Absolutely MUST Use! Oh, look what I found, a template to help you ROCK this tactic!
How To Use “The Little Bighorn” Tactic To Generate New Opportunities. I’ll Even Throw In An Easy To Use Template. Don’t pretend like you didn’t know I was going to give you the template. We’re both adults here!
1 Simple Tactic That Creates “Internal Chatter” With Your Target Companies.
12 Ways To Convey A More Credible Message.
3 Things You Can Do On LinkedIn To IMMEDIATELY Stand Out With Decision Makers. I’ll Even Throw In 10 Of The Email Templates I’m Using On LinkedIn.
How To Create A Very Different “Call To Action” Across Multiple Forms Of Messaging.
4 Voicemails (With Templates) That Will Help You Stand Out.
How To Create A Prospecting Cadence That Mixes Multiple Forms Of Outreach.

When? What’s Included? How Much?

When?

Download it instantly and then go at your own pace!

You’ll Also Get These Extras;

(1) 90 Minute Training Download With Actionable Tips

(1) Cold Call Template

(4) Voicemail Templates

(10) LinkedIn Templates

(30) Email Templates (No, that’s not a typo. You’re getting my file with 30 email templates. You’re welcome).

PDF With My 10 Best Subject Lines

A Secret Resource Link With Bonus PDFs and Reinforcement Content

Email Access To Help You Wih Any Webinar Related Questions

How Much?

$99

I know, I should have given you more time to sell off a kidney and host a GoFundMe so you can raise that sort of cash but, anyway;

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