I want to talk to the Sales Manager

Today we got a cold call from presumably a telemarketer. They asked for the sales manager, when our secretary (uh hum... Administrative Assistant) asked why, they said they would answer that when the sales manager answered.
So she took his number and hung up.
I'll save the suspense-- I am not calling him back.

He did many things wrong. All of them are good for us, so lets take a look.

1. He didn't know my name. If your going to cold call- get an updated list with names. If your not willing to do that quit now and go work at Gap or something.
2. Be NICE! That Administrative Assistant that answered- yeah she is going to do that every time you call. So I would make her my friend. For tips on that read this.
3. (This could really be an extension of 2) Say why your calling! Even if we are doing business your attitude is not getting me past our gatekeeper.

Its been about a year since I last posted about effective use of the phone. But I think deserves a revisit.

Here is what I do to have a successful sales call.

1. Names, Names, Names.
   - Whoever answered the phone I addressed them by their name. And immediately told them my name and the company I was with. By addressing the person by their name it made the conversation much more personal. And I acknowledged them, and not the person I was trying to get to.
   
   "Hi Denise, this is Mike with ACT,Inc.[...]"
   
   
   
2. Admit defeat right-away
   - I wasn't afraid to let the person on the other end know that we had dropped the ball and needed to update our information. In one word-honesty. No smoke and mirrors here, we lost contact and I want to re-establish it.
   
   "[...] I was calling because somehow we lost contact with Gene Kelly at your company. I know it shouldn't have happened, but I was hoping to update his email address. He had inquired about our product at the ASTD trade show and I was hoping to send him an email follow-up."
   
   If Gene didn't work there: "Ok, so it looks like my info is really out of date, do you by chance know who replaced them? And if so could I have their name?"
   
   
   
3. My number-YOU BET!
   - Because I wanted someones information I wanted to make sure they had mine, so I offered my contact information to them. That way if the call got interrupted or they received another call the ball was in their court. Basically I offered trust.
   
   "Just in case we get cut off, I want to give you my direct line, that way if they have any questions they can contact me."
   
   
   
4. More than happy to email
   -I really didn't need to talk to the person, and the secretary being the adamant gate-keeper most of the time didn't want me too, I knew that my information could be ascertained from them. So I asked for what I needed and told them why and what I was planning to do with the information.
   
   "I really don't need to talk to Gene, I am just looking to update his email address. That way I can just send him the information he needs and he can view it whenever he wants."
   
   
   
5. Thanks, I really appreciate your help.
   -After I received the info from the person I thanked them personally for helping me. And in the show of gratitude I used their name.
   
   "Denise I wanted to thank you for taking the time to help me out. I am going to email that information to Gene, and if either of you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me."

tags technorati : Sales Tools Secretary Customer Contact Information Sales Call Creativity Customer Retention Relationship Building Sales Tools