Longest Sales Call, Ever!

I received a phone call today from Mary, the nicest sales person. Being the nice person that I am, I never hang up on salespeople. I know they are just doing their jobs. And I do believe that they may be offering a product that I could use.

Today's call may have changed my mind. Gee whiz! This nice woman was obviously reading from a script. And I think the only objection she was trained to overcome was, "How much does it cost?". Every time I asked a question, she glossed right over it and continued. In fact, she is still talking as I type! I put her on speaker and she is going on and on.... it has been one hour and fifteen minutes! Each time I interrupt her and ask her to get to the end, she just keeps talking. I am so tempted to hang up on her, ask for her manager or let her finish just because of the time I have already invested.

I always try to learn something from someone who irritates me. I know that I must do things that irritate other people so I try to make note and improve my own skills as a communicator.

This is what I've learned from Mary:
1. Listen more, talk less.
2. People are busy. If a cold call takes more than 15 minutes..... you've probably already lost the customer.
3. When a customer says, "You've been talking so long, you lost me and I was working on something else." Its time to go.
4. When you ask a prospective customer a question, really ask it. Don't read it. This means you listen to the answer and adjust accordingly.
5. Do NOT repeat the prospective customer's first name during every sentence. It is not increasing familiarity. Its annoying.

As I am finishing this blog ... she is still talking! One hour and 25 minutes later.

To be continued ...