John Barrows is a master of sales training with a ton of valuable information to offer.
I’m on a personal crusade to eliminate ‘just checking in’ and ‘touching base’ from the sales vocabulary
There are just too many salespeople who start a conversation with these phrases just to try and get something started. The truth is, they annoy many executives and elicit bad responses all around. If you’re ‘just touching base,’ you’re not starting the conversation off right.
Instead, change your first line to this:
“The reason for my call today is…”
Now fill in the blank. If you can’t figure out how pretty easily, it’s probably not worth making the call at all. Here are some suggestions:
- “I noticed your team recently won an award and wanted to see how you plan on (_______)”
- “I wanted to offer an introduction and discuss how you all handle (______)”
- “We’re working with a few other execs at your company and wanted to see if you’d be interested in (______)”
______ equals your value proposition
When you start off being direct, it’s much easier for a prospect or current customer to understand your message right away.
This is just one of many tips straight from one of the best in the business. Learn more by viewing our video interview with John. With a resume that includes sales training for Salesforce.com, Marketo, and LinkedIn, John provides executable steps to improve your prospecting, outreach, and ultimately make the sale.