“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
Way back on March 4, 1933 during his first inaugural address FDR told the American people their unreasoning fear was paralyzing the U.S! And yes, I tell my SFS students that very likely their ‘unreasoning fear’ is paralyzing their business (and personal) growth!
So OK, folks, ‘show of hands’ time here! How many of you FEAR-dread-and-hate ‘cold call selling’? WOW! It’s unanimous! (I’ve had the same reaction at the 100’s of SFS Training Events I’ve taught over the last 24 years!) Therefore…
Shouldn’t you suck it up and just git-er-done? NO and with all due respect to Mr. Roosevelt here’s why! As we recently discussed when you FEAR-dread-and-hate something you won’t be any good at it! (OR even worse, you’ll subconsciously invent ‘Displacement Activities’ so you won’t have to do this dreaded ‘cold call selling’!) Instead, let’s analyze…
WHY does almost everyone HATE ‘cold call selling’? Because all of us (including you and me!) have a ‘Fear of Rejection’! (F.O.R.) Even so, I was able to tweak (even fool) my FEAR-dread-and-hate attitude toward selling! You will too when you simply..
Do a Daily ‘Pop and Swap’!
That’s right! Instead of getting myself all nerved up for an endless day of trudging from one rejection to another- I’d just ‘POP’ into a business. My goal was NOT to sell the job. (After all, that’s where my rejected feeling came from!) Instead…
My entire purpose when I walked through the door was to simply ‘swap’ business cards. (Or contact information.) Now instead of constant rejection I had an almost 100% success rate! And this ‘swapping of information’ is how we start building a relationship!
NOTE: My ‘Pop and Swap’ technique took my Serendipity Selling concept to a whole new level! Instead of only ‘seizing the moment’ when the mood struck me (“serendipity”) I now had a cast-iron daily goal of at least one ‘Pop and Swap’! (And if I failed to Pop and Swap one day then I had to do two the next day!)
Here is the ‘Pop and Swap’ introduction I recommend in SFS Training:
Me: (Cheerfully with a smile) Good morning, my name is (slow down a bit here) Steve Toburen with Jon-Don Cleaning. If I may, I’d like to drop my card off with you. (Hand them your card and keep your card case open and a pen handy.)
Prospect: Thank you. (Normally takes your beautifully designed business card and examines it.)
Me: You’ll see we specialize in carpet and tile cleaning for businesses… (smile here) just like your company! (Now look down at the floor.) Do you have this carpet (and tile) through your entire space?
Prospect: Pretty much except for the break rooms and restrooms.
Me: Interesting. Now do you personally look after these ‘maintenance headaches’? (Small joint chuckle here) Or does someone else in the company have this ‘great privilege’? (Shared smile.)
Prospect: Not me! That would be our Facility Manager, Jeff Cutshall. (At this point I mentally change my ‘prospect’ into an ‘Initial Contact’ which our internal Sales Tracking Reports abbreviated as an ‘I/C’.)
NOTE: Remember, I’ve already achieved my goal with this ‘Pop and Swap’! I’ve made 1) a favorable impression, 2) ‘planted a seed’ with my business card and 3) I’ve learned the name of my new business prospect. But hey (assuming your I/C isn’t swamped) why not ride this wave a bit further?
Me: Got it… would Mr. Cutshall have no more than four minutes for me right now? I may be able to make his life (and your facility here) a whole lot nicer.
I/C: Jeff isn’t in today.
Me: I understand. Could you please give Mr. Cutshall my card and mention I’ll reach out to him? (Hand your contact another card.) Oh… would you happen to have Mr. Cutshall’s business card? (Many times they will have the Facility Manager’s card. But if not…)
I/C: Uh, sorry. No I don’t.
Me: No worries. Let me just write Jeff’s name down. And the best number to contact Jeff on is…? Do you know when he’ll be in the office? Great! Please pass my card on to Jeff and mention that you and I talked. I’ll give him a call on Thursday.
I/C: OK, I’ll do that.
Me: Thanks! My name is Steve. And you’re… (look down at their name plate) Rachelle? Very nice to meet you, Rachelle. Please keep my card since we also do a wonderful job for our residential customers in their homes. In fact, Rachelle, you’ve been so great to work with let me give you a bottle of our FREE Spotter for Life. Any time you run out just give us a call and we’ll replace your carpet spotter at no charge! Thanks again and have a great day!
NOTE #1: Sioux and I timed the above conversation. Our total time? TWO MINUTES for this ‘Pop and Swap’! (And even less if you just Pop and Swap business cards!)
NOTE #2: Immediately after leaving transfer your notes, including Jeff and Rachelle’s names, to your cell phone or paper Sales Tracking Report. Also put on your calendar to reach out to Jeff next Thursday. BTW, here is a great way to convert your ‘cold call’ to Jeff into a ‘warm call’!
Remember, do this ‘Pop and Swap’ at least once daily and you’ll plant over 250 ‘business seeds’ in the coming year AND without doing what you FEAR-dread-and-hate: ‘Cold Call selling’!
We have many great ‘how to sell’ conversations in our Strategies for Success: Growing Your Business (GYB) Facebook Group. You don’t have to be a SFS Training graduate to jump in with our 1,000’s of cleaning and restoration contractor members so join our (very welcoming) GYB Group today!
Of course, you want (hope for?) more than just a ‘Pop and Swap’! So always keep a few Commercial Carpet Analysis Forms in your clipboard. If Mr. Cutshall is available immediately you’ll want to pull together your Zoned Maintenance recommendations! (And by the way, it is TOTALLY NORMAL to be nervous during this process!)
Now… don’t you have (at the very least) one ‘Pop and Swap’ to do today? Git going and best wishes!
Steve