Perception Affects Action

What’s included in your telephone sales presentation is very important. What is MISSING from a sales presentation can ruin the call. And often, what is missing is just common sense and courtesy, which can make a critical difference in the outcome of the sales call.

WHAT’S MISSING IN THIS SALES PRESENTATION?
A few months ago I received a telephone marketing call from our local cable company. After introducing himself, the caller began to read a long, prepared script about a new movie package being offered. I waited to hear a question ANY question - which would involve me in the conversation or find out if I were in any way interested in what he was trying to sell. There were no questions. The script was all about what HE wanted to SELL to me, without regard to MY preferences or viewing habits. He asked for the order WITHOUT ever getting any input from me, the customer.

I said "no, thank you," and ended the call.

What could the sales rep have said that would have made a better impression on me the customer?

How could he have INVOLVED me in the conversation and moved closer to making a SALE? What questions could he have asked me?

1. "How many videos do you rent in a month?"(The answer to this question would let him know if I were a good PROSPECT for what he was selling. He would find out whether or not I rented videos and he could have asked a follow-up question and learned how much money I spent per month, renting videos.)

2. "What kind of movies do you prefer? Classic movies? New movie releases?" (The answer to this question would tell him which movie package I would be interested in.)

PERCEPTION AFFECTS ACTION

What the sales rep SHOULD have said, immediately after he introduced himself was:

"THANK YOU for subscribing to our cable service. We appreciate your business."

This cable company has no competitors in our area and the PERCEPTION among many cable subscribers is that our business is taken for granted. This perception affects the way we - as consumers feel about our cable company. This perception affects the action we take or do not take.

Perception affects action.

Action or lack of action - follows perception.

About the Author

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