How to Design Your Own Cold

Calling Script to Set Up

More Appointments

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 How to Design Your Own Cold Calling
Script to Set Up More Appointments
Hello and welcome to another MTD Sales Training tip. We’re going to discuss how you can
design your own cold calling script to help you set up more appointments with your potential
customers.

The ability to pick up the telephone and set good quality appointments will be the difference
between success and failure in professional selling. However today, most sales people have some
serious problems doing this.

We are asked constantly about how to be more effective in cold calling to set up more
appointments. Well, now we’re going to give you everything you’ll ever need to become a master
cold caller right away.

First, understand that what I’m going to give you is not a word for word script. You don’t want to
sound robotic or scripted like the hundreds of other sales people out there.

Instead, what I’m going to teach you is how to design your own telephone sales framework in
other words, how to structure a professional telephone sales interaction. I’m going to show you
how to build the foundation---the skeleton---the framework of your presentation and from there
you’ll be able to add your own words and your own personality. What you’ll learn are the critical
steps involved in an effective cold calling presentation to get through and to set up those
appointments.

Now the first thing you need to do is to develop a professional approach. You’re going to have to
project a professional image, a non-threatening image and an image that doesn’t resemble the
stereotypical cold caller. In short, you have to set yourself apart from every other call the
prospect receives from sales people and you have about three to six seconds to accomplish this.

So, before we get into how to structure your cold calling presentation, let’s begin with how to
instantly project an image to the prospect over the telephone that will suppress the prospect’s
past negative pre-conceived images of receiving a sales call.

“Good morning, could I speak to Sean McPheat please?”

That’s it!! That’s about all you have to say today on the telephone for some prospects to realise
four things:

1. You’re not a friend or acquaintance.

2. This is not a social call.
3. You cannot be trusted and
4. You’re invading the prospect’s privacy.

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Worst still is if the prospect hears:

“Good morning, can you put me through to the person who deals with your marketing please?”

When a gatekeeper hears that the alarm bells start to ring!

Now have you ever been asked, “What are you selling?” before you’ve even introduced yourself?

And has a prospect ever told you, “I’m not interested,” before they even know why you called?

You see, there is a distinct sound affiliated with a telephone solicitation call. It’s an abnormal tone
that acts like a warning beacon to your potential customers. It’s that big smile in the voice and the
over-enthusiastic pep. It’s the old smile-and-dial mentality.

In a face-to-face sales interaction, a professional salesperson is careful not to have “money signs”
in their eyes. Well, on the telephone, the same rules apply as well - you can’t afford to have
money signs in your voice as well.

Unfortunately, most salespeople are afflicted with this dreaded disease— We call it Money
Mouth—a screeching, unrelenting, monotone, insensitive, robotic sounding voice.

So, the first step is to get rid of the money mouth and to project the right image, and here’s how
to do that.

First, lose the big smile and tone down your enthusiasm. This flies in the face of everything you
have probably been told but remember this, the majority of sales people do this and the
gatekeepers antennae is programmed to listen out for exactly that – you need to be different.
Now when I say lose the smile and enthusiasm I don’t mean that you need to be angry or
something. Simply don’t’ put that big phony smile on your face at the outset of the call, there is a
time for that but it’s not at hello! The old smile and dial era is over. You simply have no reason to
be so happy and overjoyed just to hear the prospect’s voice. Be pleasant - not overjoyed and
excited at this stage.

Step 2: Don’t be perfect. Usually when a sales person perfects their telephone script, they can
deliver it flawlessly. They begin to speak and even answer objections without making the slightest
mistake or pause. However, pauses, small stutters and momentary broken chains of thought are
common in every normal conversation. The more perfect you are, the more rehearsed and
unnatural you sound.

You may have to strategically place small stutters and pauses into your presentation. In short, you
may have to rehearse sounding unrehearsed.

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Step 3: Capture your friendly voice
If you record your voice when you call a friend, a relative or a long time customer and then record
your voice when you make a sales call - a cold call - you will find that your voice is distinctively
different with each type of call. When you make a friendly, unthreatened telephone call, your
voice is calm, relaxed and carefree. However, on the cold call, you will notice that your voice takes
on a tenser, almost formal and cautionary tone. When you know your call will be greeted with a
warm reception, your body remains relaxed and calm, which reflects in the sound of your voice.

When you anticipate some resistance or a negative reception and when money is involved, your
body assumes a more alert and poised posture, which also reflects in the sound of your voice. So
record yourself and then try to deliver that relaxed, carefree tone.

If you listen carefully you’ll notice that about 90% of all telephone calls (that are natural calls made
at home or when people in your office are talking to others that they know) that these calls all
begin with what I call a fumble. Listen carefully, even to calls that you make during a normal day
or at home. Calls that are to friends, relatives or work colleagues: every telephone call that is NOT
a sales or a cold call.

You will notice that almost all normal and natural calls begin with a small stutter or hesitation.

It’s just a very brief, pause or stutter or momentary hesitation, almost as if the caller takes about a
second to collect his or her thoughts.

While on the surface, a call may begin like this:

“Hi, is Mary there?”

If you listen closely it actually sounds like this:

“oh, yes, hello, Is Mary there?”

If you really listen closely, you will see that most calls begin with:

• Yeah
• Yes
• Um
• Ah
• Uh

Now you might be thinking that this is ridiculous and it seems to be unprofessional. But this is
critical. This small pause, this quick momentary lapse of thought, is normal and natural and it
begins most conversations.

Now, when you make a cold call, you’re deliberately trying to be flawless. You’re TRYING to sound
professional. When you do that, you inadvertently take out all of the natural tendencies present
in everyday speech patterns. You remove that small fumble at the beginning of your call. As I
mentioned earlier, you need to practice sounding natural, and the first place to do that is at the
very beginning.
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When this natural fumble is missing from a call, the prospect realises that something is different.
Now the prospect has no idea that you didn’t fumble or stutter and usually the person you call
does not know WHY they feel that something is wrong, but they know that for some reason the
call sounds unnatural.

The prospect, again, does not know exactly why the call sounds different but, they react by
immediately putting their guard up against you. The prospect reacts with a defensive posture.

You must PUT BACK the natural mistakes. When you begin a cold call, start with a fumble. Now
we don’t mean that you have to stutter and stammer on for ten minutes. Just begin your call with
a simple hesitation, a fumble, just as if you are collecting your thoughts for a split second.

So Instead of:

“May I speak to Ethan Allan, please?”

Try this

“Oh, Yes, er, Ethan Allan please.”

You will be amazed at the effect that this has.

Step 5: Echo - Reflect back a similar attitude and pace of speech

Once your conversation begins, you want to try to slightly alter and adapt to the speed or pace or
tempo of speech which the prospect is using, as well as reflecting their attitude. This does NOT
mean to mimic or imitate the prospect. You want to match the person’s pace of speech.

While this may sound complicated, it’s actually quick, simple and natural. Usually all that you’ll do
is speak a bit faster if the person is a fast talker. Or you may want to slow down a little, if the
person speaks slowly. If the prospect exhibits a very upbeat, informal attitude, you might be a
little less formal. Whereas with a prospect who is a “get-down-to-business and not talk about the
weather” type person, you may be more formal and to the point.

BUT DON’T OVERDO THIS.

This reflecting-back, this echoing, is a naturally occurring phenomenon present in normal everyday
conversations of an empathic nature. So, you do not want to try too hard at this. Just listen and
slightly alter your pace and demeanour to match. The result is that you will seem a bit more
familiar to the prospect. You will sound like someone they’re used to and can deal with easily and
comfortably, and thereby establishing a rapport.

Lastly, what you must do in that critical first six seconds to set yourself apart from the rest is
simply this…..…Listen

Usually the sales person is so concerned about what they are going to say TO the
prospect that they pay very little attention to what they hear in the very beginning of the call. At
the very beginning of the call, and this is before you or the prospect has even said a single word,
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you need to have your ears working overtime. The prospect will give you a lot of clues to what is
happening even before you speak. What you have to do is listen for the clues that tell you which
way you should proceed, and then adapt to the situation.

Consider this: When you call your spouse, child or a loved one on the telephone, you can tell if
there is something wrong as soon as they answer the phone even though they might not actually
tell you. When you are speaking to someone whom you know very well, you can “sense” in near
telepathic fashion, if that person may be in trouble or might be having a problem, long before they
voice the situation.

Have you ever called a close friend or relative and as soon as they said “Hello,” you said, “What’s
wrong?” You can somehow tell when the person you’re speaking to is troubled the instant you
hear their voice. Conversely, as soon as someone you know well answers, you may also respond
with, “Wow, you sound happy, what’s going on?”

Now you may think that this is because you know the person so well and that you are so familiar
with their normal disposition, that you can tell when they sound different. And that is part of it.

However, much of the reason you are able to sense these things is because the person gave you
many clues: the tone of their voice travelled downward; the pace of their voice is slow when it is
normally faster, etc.

What you have to understand is that these clues are noticeable with everyone that you talk to,
even with total strangers—if you just listen for them. Begin to listen for these signs BEFORE the
prospect answers the telephone. Be prepared to listen carefully to what you hear. Start listening
as soon as the phone begins to ring, and in fact, listen to HOW the prospect lifts the telephone.

When someone hangs up the telephone, can you tell if they hung it up softly or if they slammed
down the receiver. You can plainly hear when someone slams the phone down. And of course,
many sales people hear this often. But the question is how can you tell? What you hear is the
receiver hitting the sides of the telephone.

Well, you can hear this in reverse. You can clearly hear when someone picks up the phone very
fast and in a hurry. Listen for this! Of course, if a multi-line phone is involved and the person lifts
the receiver before they punch in, it will be silent. But most of the time if someone snatches the
receiver off of the hook, you can hear it.

Now think: why would someone snatch the receiver off the hook? That is a clear sign that
something is going on wherever they are. Maybe they’re in a hurry, rushed; perhaps they have a
ton of customers in front of them. Maybe there’s an emergency. There are a thousand reasons
that someone may yank the receiver off the hook, and almost ALL of them are bad for you. If the
person you call yanks the receiver off the base of the phone, more than likely this is NOT a good
time to try and sell them something. So listen for the clues.

Then listen closely to the very first words the person says. I mean listen to how they say what
they say as much as what they say. Are their words rushed, hurried or tense? Is the person
breathing hard as if they just ran to the telephone? Listen out for these things.

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Also listen to background noises. Listen for the sound of colleagues or customers talking,
telephones ringing. All of these clues will tell you if your call is well-timed or not.

So before thinking about what you’re going to say…remember your initial approach:

Get rid of the money mouth first.

To accomplish this:

Lose the big smile

Tone down the enthusiasm
Don’t be perfect
Capture the friendly relaxed tone of voice
Replace that natural fumble…that brief hesitation before you speak.

And remember to listen intensely from the very outset of the call. Listen to the way the prospect
answers and how they sound. Reflect back a similar speed and attitude and also listen up for
background sounds.

Ok, now let’s go ahead and construct your cold calling interaction!

But first, let me explain a little about the philosophy involved with creating a powerful and
effective cold calling presentation, as the philosophy may be the exact opposite of what you’re
accustomed to.

You have to reverse the old cold-calling philosophy of the “push” or “pitch” mentality and adapt to
a PULL mentality instead.

Stereotypical cold calling methods and “scripts” teach you to force your telemarketing script on
anyone who will sit still long enough to listen. The idea is that if you can keep the prospect on the
telephone long enough, perhaps you can get to the good part before they hang up. The typical
script is designed to suppress or smother responses from the prospect until much later on in the
call.

Now you don’t want to push or force your presentation on anyone. Nor do you want to spend
your time with people who sincerely do not want to spend their time with you. What you want to
do is simply find people who are receptive and in a state of mind to listen to you when you call.

If a prospect is truly unreceptive or too preoccupied to listen to you, then why would you want to
spend your time trying to force him or her? Instead of pushing your story on unreceptive people,
you’re going to put all prospects through a short series of tests, a sort of screening process that
will let you screen out calls that may prove unproductive.

You might call these tests, trial closes that you will use within the first few seconds of the call. If
the responses to these trial closes are positive, then you will continue. However, if the prospect
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exhibits too many negative traits, then the possibilities of a positive outcome are weak.
Therefore, you can choose to terminate such calls before you invest a lot of time and effort in
them.

Also, with this method, YOU are always in control of the call. The prospect feels as if they have
control, but you actually control everything. You’re going to decide if YOU want to spend time
talking to them, and not the other way around. You determine how long the call will last. If the
prospect fails too many trial closes early, you’ll be the one to end the phone call, not the prospect.
Once you understand this and perfect it, you will NEVER, EVER have anyone hang up on you. So,
let’s look at the structure of the cold call and this screening process.

You’re going to create a telephone presentation that will screen your prospects during the first
few seconds of the telephone call so that you spend most of your time only speaking with
prospects that provide you with the highest percentage of a positive outcome.

Remember, this isn’t a script; it’s a process. Your actual words can and should change depending
on with whom you are speaking. You’re going to pre-qualify prospects before you invest your
time in a full presentation and start attempting to set the appointment. For those prospects that
fail to qualify, you will terminate the call and go on to the next one. You can decide which people
you will re-call at another time and whom you will not. For those who pass your screening, you’ll
move on with your presentation and close for the appointment. With this process, you will save
enormous amounts of time and only speak with prospects who stand a good chance of setting an
appointment.

The first three steps in the sales call are the QUALIFYING STEPS. These three “tests” help you to
determine if the call is worth your time. If the prospect passes these qualifying stages, then you’ll
go for it.

Remember this word when designing your telephone presentation: TALK. You’re going to have a
TALK with the prospect.

The T in talk stands for Time.

The A for attitude
The L means legitimise
And the K stands for Knead…that’s Kneed spelt K. N. E. A. D

Let me explain.

You will first qualify the prospect on Time…is this the right time for the call? Then you’ll qualify
them on their attitude - their attitude towards you, your company and what you sell. Then you
will legitimise the prospect. That is, determine if they qualify as a viable prospect. And finally,
you’ll knead it all together and massage it, like making dough….which is exactly what you will
make!

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The first test or qualifier is on Time
Your first trial closes or tests for the prospect are to determine if you’re calling at an opportune
time. If you call someone at a time when they’re legitimately preoccupied with something else,
they may not hang up or even tell you, but you will not have their attention. In such a case, it’s
better to get off the telephone and call this prospect at a better time. Within the first few seconds
of the call, you want to determine if the call is reasonably convenient for the prospect.

I know, you may have been taught just the opposite; that when you get a prospect on the
telephone—stay on them no matter what. Well, that is why people bang their heads up against
the wall when cold calling. If the prospect fails the TIME test, let them go and move on.

We’ll cover some examples of this in a moment but first let’s continue with what each test is.

Now the second test is on Attitude

You want to determine if the prospect has the right attitude towards you, your company and the
products or services that you sell. You want to find out immediately if the prospect may have any
pre-existing reasons that may prevent them from setting an appointment with you. If the
prospect has some preconceived negative feelings about your company or products you’ll want to
find out within the first few seconds, not after ten minutes. Does that make sense?

The third and final qualifying test is about the Technical and logistical aspects of the prospect
You want to technically qualify, or legitimise the prospect as to your target market and other
specifications and demographics. Does this prospect qualify as a prospect? Is this the true
decision maker? Are they the right type of business? The right size of business? Before you go any
further, you want to be sure that this prospect has the capability to set an appointment with you.

Now, it is only those prospects that pass those three, initial brief qualifying stages that you want to
continue talking to.

On a side note…as you go forth, with your trial closes, your tests, you’ll PULL out a lot of responses
from the prospect. To elicit these responses from the prospect you will of course ask a few
questions. But you’ll also use deliberate, strategically placed pauses or stutters to give the person
a chance to respond.

Let’s look at the opening introduction, during which you want to test the prospect on the first two
qualifiers…the time and attitude.

First, listen intently from the moment the telephone begins to ring. You want to pay special
attention to how the prospect answers the telephone. If you are going through a gatekeeper,
then still pay close attention to exactly how the prospect answers the line. You can easily tell if
someone is preoccupied, by the way they answer the telephone.

In your introduction, you want to test the prospect as to the convenience of the call and their
response to your company name.

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Listen to this example:

Prospect: “ABC Accounting, how may I help you!”

Sales Person: “Ah, yes, Susan Anton, please.”

Remember to use that fumble.

With this, you get a first response. Listen to and judge that response. Remember, we’re going to
assume that you’re speaking to the decision maker here. We’ve got another session on how to get
through gatekeepers because that needs a whole session to itself.

Now if the prospect answers by stating their name…then repeat it stressing the other part of their
name as a question.

Like this:

Prospect: “ABC Accounting, Susan speaking”

Sales Person: “Ah, yes, Susan Anton?”

Remember that your goal here is to get a response.

Let’s continue…

Prospect: “ABC Accounting, how may I help you?”

Sales Person: “Ah, yes, Susan Anton, please.”

Prospect: “Speaking.”

Sales Person:“Yes, Susan, James Smith with Northern Widgets?” [Guy, raise the tonality in your
voice when you say widgets like it’s a question and that they should know you – see below]

Now hopefully you noticed that I raised my tone of voice, just slightly as I said the name of my
company. Did you catch that?

Listen again…

Sales Person:“Yes, Susan, James Smith with Northern Widgets?”

You see, when you raise the tone on the last part of a statement, it becomes a question. A
question that you want the prospect to respond to. This will be your second response to give you
an idea of the time and attitude answers.

So raise the tone on the last part of your company name and pause. You want to pause and listen
intently to the prospect’s reaction to hearing your name and the name of your company. You
want to rate or judge the prospect’s attitude as to both of those initial responses.
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For instance, let’s say the prospect answers with a calm and pleasant demeanour. Then as soon as
you mention the name of your company, her attitude suddenly became subdued and a little
rushed. What does that tell you? Do you see what you’re trying to do here?

Listen to this example of a prospect whose attitude remains the same. She answers with an
upbeat attitude and it stayed that way.

Prospect: “ABC Accounting, how may I help you?”

Sales Person: “Ah, yes, Susan Anton, please.”

Prospect: “Speaking.”

Sales Person: “Yes, Susan, James Smith with Northern Widgets?”

Prospect: “Yes…”

Now listen to a prospect who’s attitude level dropped…

Prospect: “ABC Accounting, how may I help you?”

Sales Person: “Ah, yes, Susan Anton, please.”

Prospect: “Speaking.”

Sales Person: “Yes, Susan, James Smith with Northern Widgets?”

Prospect: “How can I help?”

When this happens, this prospect has failed one test. There is some reason why her mood
changed when she heard who you were so lodge this in the back of your mind.

Now introduce your product or service and at the same time you can test for attitude again

You want to make it very clear exactly who you are and what your purpose is. You just want a
brief statement that explains what you do and sell. You also want to make it clear that you work
with other people similar to the prospect; you work with their peers. And finally, you want to
state a brief interest hook. However, after the hook…interrupt yourself and pause…to pull out yet
another response.

Sales Person: “Ah, Yes, Susan, Northern Widgets, you might be familiar, we work with many
accounting firms like Z ACCOUNTANTS and B FINANCE PARTNERS and the reason I’m calling is
about the new tax laws… ah er…do you have a quick minute?”
Now this is a critical test.
Most people would say that it’s insane to pause at that point to allow the prospect to tell you
something like they are not interested. But that is exactly what you want. Pause and listen to this
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response. Also, to interrupt yourself when you do this stimulates an automatic response. This will
help you separate those who are truly busy from those who just say they are.
Now, a positive response as in…
Prospect: “Yeah, what can I do for you?”

Is great. However, a negative response such as…

Prospect: “Well, what is this about?” or “No, I’m really busy…”

Is yet another failed test.

The point here is that if this prospect answered the line with an ugly attitude failing the first test,
then the attitude became even worse when they heard your company name, then began to get
even more negative when you asked for a moment…then you have to consider not spending time
with this person.

This is one of the main reasons you have trouble cold calling. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not
always that the prospect does not want to talk or listen. Often it’s that you called at the wrong
time. You can get the same person on the line on two different days and get two completely
different responses.

Perhaps with the prospect in our example, you choose to terminate the call…

Sales Person: “Well, Susan, it sounds like I got you at a really busy time. Why don’t I give you a
call another day…ok?”

In fact, when you do this, most prospects are so shocked, that they stop you.

Prospect: “Ah, no...wait...what’s this about?”

If that happens, the prospect just gave you permission to explain your reason for the call---which is
your presentation!

But can you see the difference? Can you see what just happened and how much control you have
after just a few seconds into the call?

If the prospect is still with you at this time, then you want to legitimise them. Qualify the
prospect.

Sales Person: “Ah, Yes, Susan, Northern Widgets, you might be familiar, we work with many
accounting firms like Z ACCOUNTANTS and B FINANCE PARTNERS and the reason I’m calling is
about the new tax laws… ah er…do you have a quick minute?”

Prospect: “Ok.”

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Sales Person: “Susan, you’re probably familiar with the changes coming in next year with the
tax laws that can cost accounting firms a ton of money….er, do you handle your firm’s billing
software?”

As with the first question, you want to interrupt yourself. This keeps the call sounding impromptu
and helps to generate a knee-jerk response from the prospect. Just confirm whatever it is that
you need to confirm.

Like these examples:

Sales Person: “Yes, Steve, as you know most help desk managers spend enormous amount of
time resetting user accounts, and …oh…you’re the help desk manager right?”

Or

Sales Person: “Yes, Sharon, as you know most independent developers have multiple
platforms working simultaneously and…oh…do you have more than ten work stations there?”

Now If you have a two-step process you can use something like this…

Sales Person: “I just wanted to get some information out to you on maintenance accessories...
ah, do you handle those supplies?”

Now, remember that you have now given this prospect several chances to interject. If the
prospect did so and objected before you have explained anything, then you’ll be fighting against
an objection that’s not actually an objection. Instead, you may choose to terminate the call.

On the other hand if the prospect is still with you at this point…now you’re going to go for it.

This is when you’ll knead it all together.

In doing this you’ll want to

• Uncover a problem
• Inform the prospect that you have the solution….however…
• A meeting is needed to discuss it…AND
• That meeting will prove valuable no matter what happens

Here’s an example:

Sales Person: “Yes, Steve, as you know most help desk managers spend an enormous amount
of time resetting user accounts, and …Oh…you’re the help desk manager right?”

Prospect: “Yeah.”

Sales Person: “Well, Steve, we found that resetting user accounts actually costs a firm far
more than you think. (pause…..) Steve, we’ve come up with a solution that will not only end the
reset problem but can actually help you get more clients too. But anyway, I’m calling to see if we

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could sit down for a few minutes, so I can give you this information and show you how you can put
some of that money back into your budget….

Now, should you get an objection here…which you’re actually trying to pull out, then sell only the
appointment as you were doing anyhow.

Sales Person: “Steve, we’ve come up with a solution that will not only end the rest problem
but can actually help you get more clients. But anyway, I’m calling to see when we might sit down
for a few minutes, so I can give you this information and show you how you can put some of that
money back into your budget….

Prospect: “Well, we’re not thinking about buying anything new right now. The economy is slow
and clients are scarce.”

Sales Person: “Yes Steve, I agree. But please don’t misunderstand me here. I’m not asking
you to buy anything right now---I haven’t even earned that right. However, I’ll be able to show
you a process that will save you lots of money...regardless of if we work together on anything…

Remember, to sell only the value of the appointment. Also, since you put this prospect through so
many tests before this point, the prospect has already accepted you and what you do. Therefore,
handling objections is far easier. You got rid of those who would be adamant and want to fight
with you. Does that make sense?

Then close for the appointment with an alternate of choice close.

Sales Person: “Are the afternoons better for you to grab a few minutes, Steve? Or are the
mornings usually better for you?”

Or

Sales person: “I can get together with you on Tuesday morning Steve or would later on in the
week be more convenient?”

So let’s wrap this session up and pull it all together

Prospect: “ABC Printing?”

Sales Person: “Ah, Yes, Steve Smith please?”

Prospect: “This is Steve.”

Sales Person: “Yes, Steve, Sharon Aton, Acme Developers?

Prospect: “Uh, uh.”

Sales Person: “Steve, Acme Developers, you may be familiar…we work with a ton of help desk
managers in your industry…...ah….you’re the help desk manager there right?”

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Prospect: “Yeah. What can I do for you?”

Sales Person: “Steve, as you know most help desk managers spend enormous amounts of time
resetting user accounts, and we’ve found that it actually costs far more than you first think, in fact
……oh uh…….do you have a quick minute?”

Prospect: “Make it quick”

Sales Person: “Thanks…Steve, we’ve come up with a solution that will not only end the reset
problem but can actually help you get more clients too. But anyway, I’m calling to see if we could
sit down for a few minutes, so I can give you this information and show you how you can put some
of that money back into your budget….

Prospect: “Well, I think our reset software works just fine...we’re not thinking about
buying anything new right now at all. Anyhow, the economy is slow and clients are scarce.”

Sales Person: “Yes Steve, I agree. But please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not asking you to
buy anything right now---I haven’t even earned that right. However, I’ll be able to show you a
process that will save you money...regardless of if we work together on anything…, are the
afternoons better for you to grab a few minutes, Steve? Or are the mornings usually better for
you?”

Now the exact words are not important. Just remember what you must accomplish at each step.
In those first few seconds, test the prospect…qualify them and if they exhibit too many negative
traits then terminate the call.

Working this way, you will buzz through dozens of prospects that you can call another time, and
only spend time with, and only ask for an appointment from those who are in the correct mental
disposition to do business.

Also, this doesn’t mean that you’re only looking for lay downs. On the contrary. You will speak
with many prospects who offer some objections. The key is that you have filtered them down to
ones where you at least know you have a fair chance.

And then sell just the appointment only. Uncover a problem, mention the solutions but sell the
value of the meeting.

We’ll see you again soon for some more MTD Sales Training tips.

Web: www.mtdsalestraining.com Telephone: 0800 849 6732 15

About Us

MTD, the sales training specialists, has been working with a wide variety of clients (both large and
small) in the UK and internationally since 2001.

Since that time we have delivered training in over 23 different countries to over 2,000 different
organisations.

Our head offices are based in the Midlands where we have our very own training centre, including a
multi-media suite that enables us to provide a full range of blended learning solutions including video,
podcasts, e-learning and online support solutions.

We specialise in providing:

• In-house, tailor made sales training courses (1-5 days duration)

• Open courses (Delivered throughout the UK at various locations)
• Ongoing sales development programmes (From 5 days to 2 years)
• Blended learning solutions (online and offline)
• Sales coaching (With Sales Directors or Sales Executives)

Our team of highly skilled and experienced trainers and consultants have all had distinguished careers
in senior sales roles and bring with them a wealth of practical experience to each course. At MTD
Training we will design and deliver a solution that suits your specific needs addressing the issues and
requirements from your training brief that best fits your culture, learning style and ways of working.

Our Key Unique Selling Point

“Bespoke, practical and quality training delivered by a trainer experienced in your industry
is a “given”. Where we really make a difference is how we help your sales peoples to embed
and implement the learning after the course. We offer industry leading post course support
to make this happen so you get a real, tangible return on your investment”

Head Office:
MTD Sales Training, 5 Orchard Court, Binley Business Park, Coventry, Warwickshire, CV3 2TQ

Website: www.mtdsalestraining.com
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Web: www.mtdsalestraining.com Telephone: 0800 849 6732 16

MTD Have Worked With...
Credibility and trust are two important factors when selecting an external training partner as you will
want to know that you are in safe hands. From multi-nationals through to the small business, no
matter what your industry, size or complexity is, we have delivered training to over 2000 different
organisations that include:

Web: www.mtdsalestraining.com Telephone: 0800 849 6732 17