| In a prior article I explained how important "flow" is to | | | | 2. Continue talking, ignoring his interruption; or |
| achieving positive results in our sales activities. | | | | 3. Use a transition phrase? |
| I mentioned that in cold calling, prospecting by phone, | | | | Obviously, I want you to choose the last option |
| and tele-selling we fail to achieve flow, that effortless, | | | | because the first two will probably fail. |
| "in the zone" feeling for a number of reasons. | | | | "I'm pretty busy right now" is an excuse to terminate |
| For one thing, if our lists are patchy or not ready for | | | | the call. The prospect has zero interest in being called |
| calling, we waste time and have a jagged experience, | | | | back, plus you haven't said enough to get him involved |
| somewhat like driving a stick shift and continuously | | | | in the topic. |
| popping the clutch. | | | | And of course if you simply pave over what he has |
| That jerky, ragged, on and off again routine is the | | | | said, he'll get angry and hang-up or repeat his excuse |
| opposite of flow. | | | | with more vigor, upsetting him and you. |
| Another contributor to flow in telephone conversations | | | | But if you reply, "Well I appreciate that, and I'll make it |
| is how you choose to handle interruptions, questions, | | | | brief," you have responded exactly to the content of |
| and objections. If you perceive them as threats to your | | | | what he said, and created a bridge to the next part of |
| sales talk, then you'll either over react or under react to | | | | your conversation. |
| them, causing a staccato performance to result, with | | | | Transition phrases buy you time to get a prospect to |
| fewer sales accruing than if you find a way of | | | | hear something valuable in your offer. Equally |
| smoothly handling them. | | | | important, they help you to maintain poise and |
| I train sellers to use transition phrases, which are | | | | conversational control; in a word, FLOW. |
| bridges through objections. | | | | There are several other transitions that work very |
| For example, let's say you just phoned someone and | | | | effectively, and we'll discuss them in a future article as |
| he says right at the beginning of the chat: "Well, I'm | | | | well as other vital ways to establish and maintain flow |
| pretty busy right now," what should you do: | | | | in selling. |
| 1. Apologize and try to set a future date to talk; | | | | |