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 SAVVY
SELLING - JUNE
13, 2007
Getting
Past the Gatekeeper
by Michelle
Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
Barriers
to new customers range from
wariness of salespeople to workplace
restrictions. To reach these
potential buyers, prove your
relevance
Do you feel like it's getting
harder to get through to new
customers? You're not alone.
Everyone is putting up barriers
designed to keep strangers,
spammers, and scammers out of
the workplace. So what's a salesperson
to do?
Start by seeing the situation
from your potential customers'
point of view. They often feel
stressed out, overworked, and
afraid they'll lose their jobs
if they buy something new and
it doesn't work out. As a result,
they stick with the tried and
true.
This may make them feel more
in control, but in reality they
are keeping out new ideas that
could help increase revenues
and decrease expenses or liabilities.
What's frustrating is that if
they achieved those results,
they would probably get a promotion,
a bonus, or a raise. Your job
is to convince them of that.
But first you need to get past
the gatekeepers, in whatever
form they take.
Bricks in the Wall
Customers often put up psychological
barriers to salespeople by sending
themselves messages like "Be
wary of everything salespeople
do or say. They're liars, and
if you fall for one of their
tricks, you could lose out on
a promotion or even lose your
job."
And many companies put up companywide
barriers, such as approved vendor
lists, potent e-mail filters,
and touch-tone alphabetical
phone directories. These barriers
may have started out as a response
to the spam and scams arriving
from all corners of the earth,
but they often overreach their
goal.
Take the phone directory example.
If you don't know the name of
the person you should talk to,
how are you supposed to spell
out his or her name? Or the
approved vendor list. You can't
sell until you're on the list,
yet you can't get on the list
until you prove you're a reliable,
quality vendor. It's a classic
Catch-22.
Oh, the pain! Don't give up—get
smart. The key to getting through
any kind of barrier is relevance.
If you can show how your offering
is highly relevant to your customers,
they will return your calls,
meet with you, and buy from
you. It's really that simple.
Relevant Strategies
There are three basic strategies
for relevance—referrals,
proven results, and testimonials.
To get more referrals, ask more
of your clients for referrals
more often. To show others your
proven results, measure your
clients' results and ask them
to certify your findings. If
you want testimonials, ask your
clients to tell you what they
liked about your product or
service, write it up, ask them
to edit it, print it on their
letterhead, and send it back
to you. I often find customers
will add more compliments to
their testimonials before they're
finished. Sometimes I give them
three lead-off ideas and let
them finish them in their own
words. You can put copies of
these flattering letters in
subsequent proposals and mailings.
You can post them on your Web
site and quote from them for
cover letters.
Keeping relevant applies to
voice-mail messages you leave,
too. Make sure your first five
to 10 words are extremely relevant.
I didn't appreciate this until
I watched my husband retrieve
his voice mails from work. He
ran a $30 million yearly budget
so, as you might imagine, he
had a lot of salespeople calling
on him. I watched him zip through
10 messages in one minute. When
I asked him how he did that,
he admitted that he only listened
for the first few seconds and
if the message didn't sound
highly relevant, he skipped
to the end and hit delete. So
forget long and brilliantly
argued voice mails. Prepare
a compelling message that proves
your relevance right up front
and then close for the next
step. The same goes for e-mail
(see BusinessWeek.com, 11/24/06,
"Selling to Giants").
If you have targeted a customer
who is hiding behind barriers,
don't give up easily. Be polite,
persistent, and patient. It
may just be a game of wearing
them down or contacting them
when they need what you sell.
If you get discouraged, don't
show it by becoming pushy or
ugly. Consider taking a break
from calling on them and come
back in a month or so. You'll
feel refreshed and might have
a new idea—or a more relevant
approach. Happy selling!
Michelle
Nichols is a professional sales
speaker and consultant based
in Reno, Nevada. She is also
the Savvy
Selling podcast host for
BusinessWeek. She welcomes your
questions and comments. You
can visit her web site at www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684 and direct line is
(775) 303-8201.
Copyright
2007. All rights reserved.
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