How not to sell…

In a recent post, I wrote about my change in attitude towards receiving telephone marketing calls. That hasn’t changed and yesterday morning I had a truly mind boggling call, full of lessons of how not to sell.

I forget the name of the company concerned which is probably just as well. The caller started out by disguising what he was trying to sell to me by first appearing as a potential corporate client who wanted to put a lot of work my way. Having set a level of expectation he then completely failed to deliver and lost my trust. I don’t know about you, but as a customer I certainly wouldn’t feel happy parting with my hard earned cash to someone I did not trust.

Lesson 1: Don’t set a level of expectation that you have no hope or intention of delivering

Lesson 2: Under no circumstances lie or deceive the prospect

When I challenged him on what he was calling about he then further avoided my questions and came across as very aggressive, further alienating me. To make matters worse, he did his level best to refuse to take “no” as an answer. Convincing himself that he could close a deal with me.

Lesson 3: Don’t argue with the prospect. As soon as your pitch becomes an argument there will be no chance of a sale.

Lesson 4: Once the prospect has made their mind up there is very little chance of you changing it. Particularly if you’ve annoyed them.

Lesson 5: Know when to quit. When the prospect says “no” and has said “no” repeatedly it really isn’t worth wasting your time. Quit an move on.

In the end I gave up on the caller simply said goodbye and hung up. To which he then phoned me straight back saying “I don’t know what happened there, we seem to have got cut off” to which I simply replied: “That will be because I hung up on you. I’ve said ‘no’ and I’m really not interested”

Lesson 6: Don’t allow yourself to get humiliated.

From my perspective, it was a fantastic call. I don’t think the caller did anything right. I personally found the whole event very amusing, if not slightly let down by the fact I hadn’t landed a big contract. The caller on the other hand was stressed and angry yet owing to the nature of his job would need to dial his next quarry. I cannot help thinking about his frame of mind for that call and as such the impression he would have made on the prospect.

Of the two of us, I know who had the best day.

The moral of the story… If you are trying to sell to someone, don’t lead them on or lie to them. Be open, honest and act at all times with integrity. Most of all, don’t annoy them and know when to give up and move on.

Can’t wait for the next one 🙂 🙂 🙂

Best regards
Gavin