Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

152
and read your letter. That’s an important piece of information to have before
talking to him or her.
Gatekeepers usually take their jobs very seriously. You will never get through if
you come across as arrogant and short. Be polite, ask for help, say please and thank
you, use the person’s name. Manners work.
By the way, try calling during off-peak hours—before 9:00 a.m. and after 4:00 p.m.
Think about it. You are probably trying to reach people with lots of responsibility,
which means that they most likely come in early and stay late. You may find
that you get through directly more often. I also seem to have good results on Friday
afternoons.
You have the person on the phone. Now what? I use the person’s name first,
identify myself, and ask if the person received my letter. If the person has read the
letter, he or she usually takes control of the conversation from that point, commenting
on the letter or asking how I knew all that I did about the organization.
By the way, don’t forget to smile. Yes, I said smile. Your listener can hear you smile
over the phone.
During the phone call the prospective clients will be listening to determine
whether you live up to the expectations you presented in your letter. Will you come
across as articulate, straightforward, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, intelligent, and
caring as you did on paper?
What if the recipients have not read the letter? If they have not received or read
the letter, I usually provide a brief statement from the letter and then ask a question,
also based on the content of the letter. Don’t, I repeat DON’T in capital letters,
ask the obvious questions you have read in some script such as, “Would you
like to increase your profitability?” or “Would you like to double sales?” Do you expect
them to say “no”? This trick has been used before, and the listeners suspect
that as soon as they say “yes” you will use it later in the conversation. Ask them real
questions based on your research and what you learned about their companies.
Your key goal for these phone calls is to schedule appointments with the individuals.
So keep the calls short. You are selling the appointment, not your services.
If they are willing to meet, set a date and time. I usually ask if the individuals have
their calendars handy or if I should make the appointment through the secretary,
whom I call by name. I know others who insist that you should not ask open-ended
questions when setting up the meeting. These consultants say something like, “I
Marketing Your Consulting Services