This past week, I was working with a salesperson who was trying to break into a major account without much luck. All he had was a single phone number of the “point” person for his company. After trying to reach the person on numerous occasions, he shared with me his frustration. My solution? Instead of calling the same number, try changing the last digit by one, either higher or lower. Doing so would give him a pretty good shot at reaching the person who might be in the office next door or an administrative assistant. In either case, it would increase his chance of getting to talk to someone and could help him determine if the person he had been trying to call was in fact the correct person. Although this is a simple selling skills technique, it’s very effective when used properly.
