Calling up a prospect?

I am a sales man.

Whenever I call my prospects (who has been already warmed up) or customers, I introduce myself, greet them and ask whether is it a good time to speak with them?

I picked this trait up while interning and have observed my colleagues picking this up from me.

So this is how my prospects and customers perceive me:

And therefore it is hard for them to say no :)

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I am also a customer.

Whenever someone calls me to sell, the following happens:

1) The caller introduces her name and company (which is fine) but does not ask whether I am free to speak to her (which is rude).

2) Almost all callers address me as Mr Srinivas (which, incidentally, is my father's name). I hate this as companies today spend millions of dollars into customer insights ( a fancy term to understand more about the customer), but cannot state my name properly. They could just address me as Sham. But I believe they will waste some more share holder money and take another half a decade to get this right.

3) They immediately begin to parrot the not so well rehearsed sales pitch which can even put Karan Pandava off! (I am referring to Karan from Mahabharat who would always give whatever anyone would ask from him after his daily morning prayers to the Sun God. So the pun is that if it can annoy a great giver like Karan it can certainly annoy a Mr McScrooge such as myself! :P )

4) Unlike several others I listen patiently, thank the person for calling and state that I am not interested. They take my word and immediately disconnect. They don't even wish me a good day! :(

I perceive the caller like this:

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Companies could offer training on the following aspects:

1) Good Manners: Ask the receiver whether it is a good time to speak.

2) Ask Questions: Ask whether the receiver requires a product. If not, then whether the receiver is happy with the incumbent product. 

3) Generate a Bait/USP/Any other pioneering term your marketing man can come up with!:  Use some of the insights churned out by their market research team to generate an attractive number. This would be a number backed by facts. Let us consider the concept of term insurance. Term insurance is cheaper and offers substantially higher coverage than traditional money back plans. If you invest the rest of the money that you ended up saving, because you bought a term insurance plan, in a recurring deposit (not even fancy mutual funds) you might end up generating wealth worth Rs 10 lakhs in 7 years. I figured this using Excel and therefore bought a term plan. I am sure  MNC behemoths that are employed with brainy suited up corporate types even know the accurate figure. For some reason they don't share this with the agent who makes calls.

4) Some more good manners!: Thank the receiver for her time and wish her a nice day.

If they manage to do that, they might be perceived by the prospects as the pretty blonde lady in the picture below is perceived by men.



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