How To Avoid Being Pathetic

A new restaurant opened near us this past week.  They call it "MT's."  A neighbor told us that it had unusually good food and an great wine list.  Always ready to try a new place I asked Bernadette, my wife, to book it for Saturday night.

First, she called directory assistance and asked for the number.  "No such listing she was told."  Then, she called the neighbor to make sure she had the name correct.  Yup, the name was "MT's."  Next, she went to the internet and did a search by distance for restaurants near our home.  Nothing close to MT’s came up.

Then, Bernadette called a guitar store that is in the same mall as the restaurant.  The guy at the guitar store told her that it was part of "Butcher’s Table," a gourmet grocery in the same mall. 

So Bernadette calls Butcher’s Table.  Sure enough, the operations are run by the same people.  Bernadette explains that she had a real problem trying to get the correct phone number and asks for it.

The owner explains that she has had many complaints like this.  The owner says Verizon has run out of phone numbers, and as soon as they get some more "MT's" will have its own phone number.

She then asks Bernadette what she can do for her because she is running the Butcher’s Table and MT’s.

It is about 11:00 AM on Saturday morning, and Bernadette says she would like to make a reservation for 7:00 PM that evening.  The owner says:  "Oh, we don't take reservations" but we do take "Call aheads."  Bernadette says,"Okay, I'd like to make a call ahead for 7:00 PM this evening."

Great," says the owner.  "I'm going to write this down as soon as I hang up before I forget."

Okay - Bernadette's dealing with this on Saturday morning.

Here's what I'm dealing with.

The phone rings and I answer it - so far so good.

The person calling asks to speak with Beenadette Meeens"ah"hemma.

I respond with, "Sorry she's not here right now."

The person calling asks me if I'm an "authorized decision-maker."

Doing my best at exercising self-control at the "Idiocy" of this question - I respond as calmly as I could with, "For what?"

She says, "For Verizon DSL services in your area."

I then said, "We're happy with our current provider."

End of conversation!

My observations with this call:

She sounded like she was 12 years old. Who knows?

Could barely understand her.  Obviously poorly trained, if she was trained at all.

She was reading from a script and still managed to do "Seal talk." The "Ah's" and "Um's" peppered her end of the conversation.

I'm a Verizon customer - all telephones in my house are wired with them.  I'm guessing they need more telephone numbers and better employee training programs or they're going to start losing business to competitors who have both.

It doesn't take much to sound pathetic to another person, especially when using the telephone.

Every one likes to believe they sound good when they're talking on the telephone.

There's only one true test and it comes in the form of a tape recorder.

You only need to tape your end of the conversation so you don't have to worry about getting permission.

Do yourself a favor and tape yourself for 30 minutes. Then depending how it sounds you may want to get one of those airline barf bags before listening to you recording.

Your customers and prospects get to hear you.  You should hear what they hear so you can make sure you're as good as you can be.

As you listen to your recording take notes.  You won't need a sales coach to tell you what needs to be worked on.

The journey of a long sales cycle begins with a single telephone call.

Make sure it's a good one.

No-Brainer sales tip - make sure you know what you're going to say before you say it.

It's pure insanity for you and your prospects to be surprised by what comes out of your mouth 100% of the time.

Let's go sell something . . .

Jim Meisenheimer PS -  If you're truly a self-motivated entrepreneur or sales person you should grab a copy of my  new Special Report, "25 Ways To Get Motivated For A Sensational 2006." Included in this Special Report you'll also find my 5 best time management tips plus an extra bonus section called "Seven Ways To Get Off To A Rock-fast Start In 2006."

http://www.meisenheimer.com/products/srmot.htm

PPS - Without sales training most salespeople end up saying the same things in similar situations.  If you have an interest in learning what not to say when you're talking to prospects and customers you should add this popular CD to your personal learning library.    "How To Avoid Sounding Pathetic During A Sales Call."

http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=39581&offerid=16002&q=2