Any Good Books on Cold Calling, Etc?
- Thread starter mts1234
- Start date
- 672
IMO that book was waste of time and money.
G
Guest
Guest
I'm not sure what book you're referring to but his Real Secrets of the Top 20% is completely dated. Below is an excerpt of a review I did of that book:
"Perhaps I'm a bit advanced but the top 20% that I know personally, myself being one, all feel that it pays to "obsess" about closing ratios and building a qualified pipeline of clients, which Mr. Brooks opposes (on page 31). Usually if my closing ratio is off, I'm off and I need to adjust to get back on.
He advises to NOT leave more than two messages (page 55) but this goes against the marketing rule of 7, if you're not familiar with that rule, you should Google it, it's quite interesting.
I even found some of the responses to be borderline offensive. Does he actually say (page 77) "it doesn't matter to me if you take this now, because I've got 10 other client's waiting for my call?" That would not endear me to him and I certainly would not be receptive to working with him in the future if he doesn't not value me, the client.
There are also a few insights that are solely in the interest of what we'll call a selfish salesperson. For instance, when someone asks to be sent information and your response is "if you like what you see would you be ready to place an order?" is NOT beneficial, you cannot ask someone to commit that way, similar to the car sales person asking "if I find what you're looking for will you take it today?" They can say yes or no and it usually means nothing either way.
This type of response is strictly the sales person trying to see if there's potential so they can decide whether or not to invest time in that client, but you're short changing the client and yourself, do the work, qualify, don't disqualify, you never want to come off as if the client is just commission. If you instead ask "what information would you like?" and wait for the response, you position yourself to move further along towards gaining a customer, not simply fishing for a sale.
Overall, this book seems very antiquated, while there is good insight, the bad old school techniques that simply don't work today can kill your sales, and it also lacks insight into the psyche of today's savvy buyers."
"Perhaps I'm a bit advanced but the top 20% that I know personally, myself being one, all feel that it pays to "obsess" about closing ratios and building a qualified pipeline of clients, which Mr. Brooks opposes (on page 31). Usually if my closing ratio is off, I'm off and I need to adjust to get back on.
He advises to NOT leave more than two messages (page 55) but this goes against the marketing rule of 7, if you're not familiar with that rule, you should Google it, it's quite interesting.
I even found some of the responses to be borderline offensive. Does he actually say (page 77) "it doesn't matter to me if you take this now, because I've got 10 other client's waiting for my call?" That would not endear me to him and I certainly would not be receptive to working with him in the future if he doesn't not value me, the client.
There are also a few insights that are solely in the interest of what we'll call a selfish salesperson. For instance, when someone asks to be sent information and your response is "if you like what you see would you be ready to place an order?" is NOT beneficial, you cannot ask someone to commit that way, similar to the car sales person asking "if I find what you're looking for will you take it today?" They can say yes or no and it usually means nothing either way.
This type of response is strictly the sales person trying to see if there's potential so they can decide whether or not to invest time in that client, but you're short changing the client and yourself, do the work, qualify, don't disqualify, you never want to come off as if the client is just commission. If you instead ask "what information would you like?" and wait for the response, you position yourself to move further along towards gaining a customer, not simply fishing for a sale.
Overall, this book seems very antiquated, while there is good insight, the bad old school techniques that simply don't work today can kill your sales, and it also lacks insight into the psyche of today's savvy buyers."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Last edited by a moderator:
A common myth is that today's buyers are saavy. Sales books will try to tell you that so you can buy into their "new" more "modern" method of selling.
I used to sell cars and I too came across a book that told me not to use the " If I could would you" technique. It said every car dealership uses it so the customer will get turned off when your the 3rd salesman that tells him that. It sounded convincing, it made sense to me soI stopped using it.
Well, my manager would always use it and it worked every single time! Go figure.
I used to be an outbound telemarketer. It was my first sales job. They gave me a script and told me to trust it and learn it verbatim. The first week I only made one sale. The top performers were doing 12-15 a day. Then on that Saturday I made 21 or 22 sales and was the top performer everyday for a yr averaging 33-38 sales a day.
What was so different? We all had the same script. Basically it was the pace,tone and pauses, and emphasis of certain words which nobody trained me on. I learned alot about human behavior during that time.
I had never read a sales book, I just trusted the script. Knowing what I know now about sales those scripts were terrible But I didn't know any better and they worked! And I'm glad I didn't know any better because I don't think I would have had the same results. The script doesn't carry as much weight as voice inflection when it comes to phone sales.
You can tell a person with a harsh tone to SHUT UP!!! or you can say shuut uuup and you would get a different reaction. You can literally almost hypnotize people on the phone by pacing and pausing and using voice inflection.
Many people would actually thank me after the call because they had just gone through a such good experience on the phone. Buyers are not as saavy as some sales philosophers make them out to be.
I used to sell cars and I too came across a book that told me not to use the " If I could would you" technique. It said every car dealership uses it so the customer will get turned off when your the 3rd salesman that tells him that. It sounded convincing, it made sense to me soI stopped using it.
Well, my manager would always use it and it worked every single time! Go figure.
I used to be an outbound telemarketer. It was my first sales job. They gave me a script and told me to trust it and learn it verbatim. The first week I only made one sale. The top performers were doing 12-15 a day. Then on that Saturday I made 21 or 22 sales and was the top performer everyday for a yr averaging 33-38 sales a day.
What was so different? We all had the same script. Basically it was the pace,tone and pauses, and emphasis of certain words which nobody trained me on. I learned alot about human behavior during that time.
I had never read a sales book, I just trusted the script. Knowing what I know now about sales those scripts were terrible But I didn't know any better and they worked! And I'm glad I didn't know any better because I don't think I would have had the same results. The script doesn't carry as much weight as voice inflection when it comes to phone sales.
You can tell a person with a harsh tone to SHUT UP!!! or you can say shuut uuup and you would get a different reaction. You can literally almost hypnotize people on the phone by pacing and pausing and using voice inflection.
Many people would actually thank me after the call because they had just gone through a such good experience on the phone. Buyers are not as saavy as some sales philosophers make them out to be.
G
Guest
Guest
Actually buyers are savvy in that they can sniff out a bad salesperson. They can also sense your mood, thoughts, get a feel for you and that can affect whether or not they will buy.
Just like when you call a friend and they pick up and by the sound of their voice you say "what's wrong?" People can tell.
And yes, how you say it is so important, you can turn a client off or turn them on, so to speak. lol
Just like when you call a friend and they pick up and by the sound of their voice you say "what's wrong?" People can tell.
And yes, how you say it is so important, you can turn a client off or turn them on, so to speak. lol
- 14,809
....I walk around when I'm on the phone. Something about saying seating that affects my mood and tone of voice. I'm much more animated with prospects when not sitting.
- 300
I have that same condition.
Do you also pace when you are on the phone?
(I think these are traits of the best salesmen.
Are we giving to many secrets away? LOL)
Do you also pace when you are on the phone?
(I think these are traits of the best salesmen.
Are we giving to many secrets away? LOL)
G
Guest
Guest
I always pace, my girlfriend thinks I'm crazy, but the energy comes across for sure.
And I've found through training over the last few years that many will not bother to apply the "secrets" so you're probably safe lol.
And I've found through training over the last few years that many will not bother to apply the "secrets" so you're probably safe lol.
