“This playbook will boost your pipeline, shorten your sales cycles, and book more sales meetings than ever before.”
Do you try to talk people into things?
I’m skeptical of big claims made by salespeople.
Of course, you’re going to say your playbook will “book more meetings than ever before.” You have a vested interest.
That’s why potential buyers are the Zone of Resistance (ZOR) whenever salespeople approach them.
The ZOR is a reflex reaction that protects prospects from self-serving salespeople.
How do you lower the ZOR?
Start changing your intent.
Detach from the outcome.
Instead, be curious about how your prospect is currently getting the job done to determine IF there’s a problem rather than assuming there is one.
In other words, shift from selling to sorting.
Ironically when you let go of having expectations, you create an environment where prospects feel comfortable talking with you because they don’t feel the push.
Here’s what that might sound like on a cold call:
SDR: “Hi Pete, Beth Jones with Gravy. We’ve never spoken, but I was on your website and was hoping to talk with you for a brief moment. Do you have 2 minutes?”
Prospect: Sure.
SDR: “To make sure I’m in the right place, do you still handle failed payment recovery at X?”
Prospect: “I do.”
(How they’re currently getting the job done)
SDR: “Are you using internal resources or an outsourced recovery team?”
Prospect: “We’re doing that in-house.”
(Mirror)
SDR: “In house?” With a slight uptone as if to say “tell me more.”)
Prospect: “Yes, our customer support agents recover failed payments.”
(Label)
SDR: “It sounds like you’re happy with how things are going.”
Prospect: “It’s going well.”
SDR: “Seems like they’re a talented group.”
Prospect: “They really are.”
SDR: “Many of the companies we work with who are using customer support reps say they recover 12-15% of failed payments. If you don’t mind me asking, how does that compare to your experience? It seems like you’re recovering well above that.”
Prospect: “That sounds about right. What are you calling about?”
(Tease what’s possible)
SDR: “I know you’re not in the market for anything right now. And I’m not sure if it’s a fit, but would you be open to learning about a different approach that can potentially recover 20-25% of failed payments.”
Prospect: “How does that work?”
Conversion started.
This is for Gravy, but you can easily customize it for your prospects.
Sorting not selling.
Ditch the pitch.
Poke the bear.