Don't call us - we'll call you

In the world of sales, we are, all of us, surrounded by clichés. Trouble is, if you dig a little deeper, it turns out that the majority of these clichés are, in fact, lies.

They’re not malicious lies designed to bring down corporations and fiddle people out of hundreds of thousands of pounds. They’re not massive whoppers, designed to cover up to mistakes of high ranking officials. Some of them would not even classify as “Porkies” (for the non UK readers, this term comes from the Cockney Rhyming Slang, pork pies, which simply means lies. And don’t go thinking that you can work out how people in the East End of London speak by watching a Guy Ritchie film, because you can’t.)

No. These lies are bordering on white lies. Nobody’s getting hurt – in fact it’s quite the opposite – they’re used to spare people’s feelings. Trouble is, real business growth depends upon truth, and we’re so used to telling people what we think they want to hear that the truth has become some weird and diluted version of itself. Think about it, we don’t even really believe some of the stuff we’re told any more. So here, in reverse order, are my top 3 annoying lies:

At number 3 - “He’s in a meeting at the moment”. It seems that there are some people out there who are always in meetings. Whenever you call, they’re in a meeting. Doesn’t matter if it’s first thing in the morning or last thing at night, you know exactly what you’re going to be told when you call. Do you believe they’re in a meeting? Of course you don’t. If anyone spent that much time in meetings they would never get any real work done. There’s only so much crap you can talk about around a conference table before you want to run out of the room screaming.

Anyone working that inefficiently clearly does need help. If your firm specialises in management consultancy and training, you might want to consider sending that prospect a gift, making some joke about the fact that they always seem to be in a meeting and how you’d like to help them manage their time a lot better.

Just missing the top spot at number 2- “We’ll come back to you if we’re interested”. You won’t. Just grow a pair and tell it straight – you won’t. In fact, you won’t even remember me by this time tomorrow. The truth is that the interest in a product or service has a very short shelf life – if your company can offer me something that I need right now, then I’m very pleased to discuss it with you. If I don’t think I’m going to need it for six months, then don’t expect me to call you when I do, because your competitors are already beating a path to my door, and the one who calls me exactly when I need them are more likely to get a chance to bid for the business.

Can you beat that one? Of course you can. Diarise your next call and then send something to that prospect to let them know that you’re thinking of them and that you will be in touch closer to the time that they need you. And here’s a tip – halve the time. If they tell you they don’t need you for six months, you call them in three. The script is a simple one, “When last we spoke, you told me it would be a good idea to call you in six months. Now I appreciate that that is still three months away, but I wanted to make sure that there had not been any developments on which I may have missed out.”

No respectable business person is going to have a problem with a line like that. You’re being respectful, professional and proactive, without coming on too strong, and that has to count for something.

And the number 1 lie, at least in my book – “More or less”. That probably needs a little more explanation. Think about the last time you asked someone if they had taken care of a specific task and they answered with “More or less”. IT’S ALWAYS LESS.

Think it through – “Have you finished doing the dishes?” “More or less”. Well they haven’t finished have they? It’s not like they’ve finished and then took the time to redecorate the kitchen is it?

“Is that presentation ready for the meeting?” “More or less”. So it isn’t actually ready then is it?

And from a sales perspective, if someone responds with a “more or less” when you ask them if all of their needs are met in relation to your business, then you know that there is an opening there. Remember, more or less just means less, it’s just that people are a little embarrassed that they have not taken care of business. Tell them that you are there to help them, that people aren’t always totally in control of a given situation and then offer them the help that they need.

Ultimately, these little lies are opportunities. They’re a chance to dig a little deeper and ask what the real problems are. Problems that your company may well be able to solve, if only given half the chance.

So go for it. Challenge the excuses, ask just how “less” their “more or less” is. Find out when your prospect is coming out of his meeting and never ever ever wait for someone to get back to you when they’re interested.

Does that all make sense? Well……more or less.