If you’ve been following along the past few weeks, I’ve been digging into the 10 Ways to Get Past Gatekeepers When Prospecting on the Phone.
Here is number 7:
Call at different times of the day or over lunch.
Everyone takes breaks, and many times the person who relieves the gatekeeper for lunch and/or breaks does not take the same approach as the gatekeeper would.
That person filling in may very well put you through.
One of the big mistakes a lot of salespeople make is they fail to record the time of day when they make a call. Recording the day is simply not good enough. Any good prospecting strategy entails making calls at different times of the day as a way of increasing the odds of reaching the person.
Many gatekeepers keep rigid schedules sometimes out of habit and other times, due to need to coordinate with another person who will cover for them in their absence.
Varying the times of day and placing an emphasis on calling between 11:30 and 1:15 can increase results substantially.
Another reason why calling between 11:30 and 1:15 is wise is this is the one time of day when the person you’re trying to reach may not be in a meeting. As a result of them not being in a meeting, you may actually connect.
When you do call during a traditional lunch or break period, never start off the call by asking if it’s a good time to talk. Asking a question like this is giving the person you’re calling a perfect opportunity to end the call.
Remember, the reason you’re calling is because you can help them, and you can’t help them unless they’re willing to talk.
Just as with every other technique, there is no perfect way to have every call go through like you expect.
Key is to have multiple strategies you can use when necessary to help you improve your probability of connecting.
Copyright 2015, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.
