CONGRATULATIONS! You have A) conquered your Displacement Activities, B) are well into your weekly Dedicated Sales Morning calling on new commercial accounts (or adjusters), C) have “intrigued” your Initial Contact and built a relationship asking Valid Business Question’s!
You now say, “So Sally, would this be a good time to ask Mr. Jones a few more questions? I’ll be brief and based on what you’ve told me (look down at your notes) I believe I can help you folks.” And Sally replies, “I’m sorry, Mr. Jones isn’t available…”
BUMMER! So is all lost when the Decision Maker isn’t in and/or can’t see you? NO! Simply move to your “they’re not available” statement…
“I understand. Now do you arrange Mr. Jones’ schedule or should I call him direct?”
NOTE: This “assumptive question” may appear pushy or intrusive. But remember you have already built a relationship with your Initial Contact and discovered the company’s needs using Valid Business Questions. So more follow-up questions…
1. “Do you have Mr. Jones’ card?”
2. “What is the best number to contact him on? Is there a better time of day to call?”
3. “May I tell him you and I have already talked?
4. “Great! Would you mind mentioning our conversation and I’ll call Mr. Jones tomorrow at 9:00!”
So now you have your “Ice-Breaker Introduction” with the Decision Maker as in:
“Mr. Jones, this is Steve Toburen (better to use your own name!) with Jon-Don Cleaning. Your assistant Sally and I talked yesterday and she suggested I contact you with some recommendations for your floor maintenance…”
Now you will be off and running (either over-the-phone or with an on-site visit) using this free Commercial Carpet Analysis Form!
Does the above sequence work ALL the time? Of course not! But making regular sales calls to potential commercial (and restoration) accounts is so much better than what 98% of your competitors are doing which is NOTHING!
Steve