Jill Konrath | Selling to Big Companies

Closing the Call

Question: I was recently reading an article on sales where the author said that when it comes time to ask for the potential client's business you should say, "What needs to happen in order for us to work together?" It just doesn't feel right to me. What are your thoughts on this?

Jill's Response:

The question, "What needs to happen in order for us to work together?" is an old-style closing question that is no longer effective in today's market.

Whenever I hear it, my gut wretches and I want to scream, "You haven't shown me why it's worth my time and money to do business with you. You just want my money." The question itself puts the seller in a one-down position. It makes me feel that the seller is a commodity type player, not a pro. As a result, my usual response to them is, "I don't know."

Here's what you should do to close the call:

Reframing Rejection

No one likes to be rejected.  It's a lousy feeling and it can literally paralyze your sales efforts.  Fear of rejection prevents sellers from prospecting for new customers or even following up with existing opportunities. 

But what if you reframed "rejection" and gave it a new meaning.  What if, instead of feeling devastated when people wouldn't meet with you, you viewed their behavior as simply market research, no more and no less. 

With a "market research" perspective in your mind, you're then free to explore other options because it's not about you.  It's simply about how they reacted in a given set of circumstances which can easily be changed.

Viewing their behavior as data, enables you to test a variety of approaches.  For example, you might want to test:

- A different value proposition.
- The time of day you called.
- The flow and structure of your phone call.
- Various responses to "We already have a supplier."

A market research perspective on rejection gives you the freedom to experiment with multiple sales strategies.  It enables you to be creative and have fun exploring.  And, the prospect's reaction isn't even one little bit personal.  It's just data you can analyze to help you get better.

I sure like that feeling a whole lot more than being rejected.

Six Ways to Think Big

SellingPower.com just posted this article, written by Renee Zemanski, on getting into big companies.  I thought you'd be interested!
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Selling to large companies can be tough. No one returns your calls, its difficult to find out who the decision-makers are and the decision-making process seems to take forever. Its worth knowing all this before you contact a large company, says Jill Konrath, founder of SellingtoBigCompanies.com, a company that specializes in helping salespeople and entrepreneurs win contracts with large companies. With this understanding, Konrath shares ways to help get your foot in the door and sell to the big ones.

SellingPower

Cold Calling Executives

What does it take to get an executive to take your call?  If you've ever agonized over that question (like I have on more than one occasion), you'll be surprised at just how easy it can be.

At a recent family gathering, my brother Steve shared a story about how he got ahold of the CEO at a huge, multi-national firm.  His approach was so simple, so direct and so unpretentious, that it worked the very first time he used it.  And amazingly enough, when he picked up the phone he didn't even know that the person he was calling was the head honcho at 3M Company.

What did he say to immediately get through both gatekeepers?