What to Say and When to Say it

My recent blog article “5 Prospecting Tips” was probably one of the most popular posts I have posted at CCSalesPro but, it generated a lot of questions from my agents about what to say after the opening. So, start off by reading “5 Prospecting Tips” and then continue reading to get some tips on what to say and when to say it.

One agent just emailed me a few minutes ago with this question, “Just got finished with 5 prospecting tips blog and thought it was great. Wondering if you could help out with a few questions on prospecting? I’m in a very competitive market and my opening line either gets me to the next step or shut down immediately. I love your opening, “I have a quick question for you, I wasn’t sure if you are a large corp or a small biz.” What do you say when they tell you, “I’m a small business owner.” Where do you go from there?

Here is a sample conversation / pitch when I walk in to a small business in a highly competitive market:

Me: “Hi, my name is James Shepherd, I am a local business owner offering touch screen point of sale systems, merchant services and a few other things but, I wasn’t sure if you guys were a single location / small business or if you were a big corporation?”

Prospect: “We are a small business.”

Me: “Ok, so you have the one location here, do you have any other locations?” or I might say, “Ok, great, I have a lot of small business clients out this way but, I don’t really work with the big corporations so that’s why I asked. So, how long have you been in business?” or if it is a unique business I might say, “So, who do you sell your products to?” or some other specific business question because I genuinely want to understand their business model.

Basically I move the conversation forward, breaking the ice and then I say, “So, do you know who you guys are using for your credit card processing right now?” or I say, “So, what kind of marketing are you doing right now?” I use that second line if I still don’t feel I have cracked the ice. This is my lead in to our web design package.

By the way, if they say, “We are corporate.” I follow up with, “Ok, are you regional here in XYZ State or is it a big national brand?” If they respond “National Brand” I say, “Have a nice day.” But, if they say, “We have 5 locations” or something like that I respond, “Ok, so do you have a main corporate office?’ / “Who would I talk to about bidding on your merchant services?”

The key tip I want to get across here is that you need to get into a conversation with the business owner about their business before you really start into your pitch especially in a competitive market.

I hope these short follow up lines have been a help to you!
James Shepherd  james@ccsalespro.com