The Apprentice
I just love that show. In fact I like a lot of the reality shows that are produced today, but Donald Trump's get the most of my interest. Here is a short article I wrote a while back from the show that teaches a great lesson regarding cold calling some of us need to learn. Enjoy.
Oh! Summer, Oh! Summer.
No not the season most are looking forward to. I am talking about Trump's latest firing. Summer, the restaurateur and Tarek’s saviour.
Yeah Trump’s was going to fire Tarek, which he should have. Tarek made some fatal mistakes. Even with all that intelligence.
What Tarek failed to see, was value of her, task and what it would cost in the end. His quote was “give her the simplest task”. His decision, like so many others failed to see, is true value in that little box sitting on their desk, something they may be paying hundreds or even thousands per month just to have, never mind the expense to get someone to call it.
Yes the telephone. When it comes down to “moments of truth” with leads, prospects and customers, there is no better ROI (return on investment), when it comes down to getting in front of others than the telephone. And if you are like most companies you see the telephone as a monthly expense, a cost of doing business. What it really is is one of the most powerful tools that will affect your relationships with customer, prospects and leads more than a face-to-face contact.
Back to Summer, she really failed in my eyes the most. Caroline put it the best when she asked what exactly did she contribute. Summer went totally blank, because she knew she had contributed nothing. In fact the reason she showed little confidence in her team’s success was because she knew she had not contributed. Without an attitude towards contributing you are ineffective and doomed to failure.
Her excuse is like many I hear from salespeople today, in fact some I used to use myself. “It is a bad time of the year”, “They cant afford it”, “People don’t need it”, and of course Summer’s was, because she was in the business she knew that it was a bad time to call.Blah! Blah! Blah! Face it, any time we get on the phone and call someone or someone calls you, it is an interruption. Great thing is because we know ahead of time; we can learn some simple skills to improve the event and use it to our advantage.
Summer’s other excuse was she did not have a “hook”, what I refer to as “the reason for the interruption”.
Her call could have come down something like this:Good afternoon, my name is ____________, and I am calling today on behalf of Sam’s Club and if I got you at a good time today I would like to speak to you briefly. (Please note, if it had been a bad time to speak she would have found out here).
The person on the other end of the call would have simple said “Yes or No”. If it had been yes, she would have proceeded by giving her 30 second commercial:
“Sam’s Club is giving a business appreciation event and onsite you will have the opportunity to speak with apprentices from the TV Show “Donald Trumps The Apprentice”. We have specialist in your direct business, also marketing and management that would be happy to assist you in anyway, plus it will give you the opportunity to check the values at Sam’s Club”. Can we expect to see you there? (Please note, Summer will find tune this commercial with every call, making it more and more valuable). The person on the other end would answer “Yes or No”
If no, then thank them for their time and politely excuses yourself. Summer’s objective here was to say her 30-second commercial to as many people she could get to listen too.
If yes, again thank them and let them know you will be looking forward to meeting them and ask if they may be aware of others that would benefit from the opportunity to know about this information.
Tarek saw Summer’s task as a simple telemarketer, but she was really an entrepreneur, a successful business owner, that lost a deal of a lifetime, because she did not know how to Communicate Effectively.
We know the price Tarek and Summer paid, the question is; What is ineffective cold calling costing you?
Thanks
and Have a great day CallingJohn
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