“If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.”

— Erica Jong

Taking a client call

Taking a new business call in today’s world can feel like a big win. You worked hard, all your outbounds, all your emails, conflicting calendar’s, and you finally landed a prestigious call with that client for your business, brand or agency. Fuck yeah!

It’s hard, it can take a lot of work, and for any new business or salesperson, these fleeting phone calls can feel momentous to your success. Your next commission check is just two weeks away - you might think….but, alas….you’ve got to get to the phone call. You’ve got to empathize, learn, listen, understand and ascertain what is going on for you, them and then work hard to pitch and close the deal.

Whether you work in creative services, or SaaS, or are pitching a product/solution, you’ve always got to overcome three major things in my opinion. Understanding the problem, providing the solution, ensuring success. And how do you do that?

We’ll closing deals is actually much easier than you think. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Much like you’ve built trust and communication with your friends, family members and loved ones, closing a deal can very much be the same. All you need, in my opinion, are these three things.

Empathy

If you don’t have empathy, you don’t have anything. This is the harsh truth in today’s world. Especially with COVID-19 going on and a lot of client budgets and teams are being slashed across the board. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to empathize, or pitch your services to them blindly hoping for that 1-2% response rate? Do your research on who you’re reaching out to understand and empathize with them wholly and fully. You’ll never get to closing that client if you cannot empathize and put yourself in their shoes.

Create An Open Dialogue

Everyone is busy these days….what you are looking to do by engaging with a client phone call is to establish an open line of communication, whether that is now or in the future. You want to create access to them, so focus on building that dialogue with them. Ask them questions, get them to invest in you by using the sound of their own voice. Do not openly or blindly pitch and talk about yourself! Wow….I have seen far too many people do this on a chance call with one of their dream clients. They spew verbal diarrhea about all the ‘cool’ clients they’ve worked with and what they’ve done, when they did it etc…..do not do this!

Ask the client questions, get to know them, build that trust and rapport, then wrap up the end of 21-questions by asking them directly what their biggest problem or current challenge is. Your goal is to create access to them and vice versa!

Once that is established, then prepare for step three.

Offer Customized Solutions

Your goal for closing any client is to offer tailored-solutions that benefit them, their business, and makes their lives easier. Whether that person is a product manager, marketing person, or C-level executive your goal is simple! Make their lives easier with what you are offering!

Everyone wants to feel special, and the more tailored your solution is to them, their needs, their problems, their challenges, the more likely they are to connect with it. What’s in it for them? How does this make their lives easier? What’s the cost? What’s the rollout period?

Figure out what they need and how to provide it in as few words as possible, while maintaining the level of customer service, empathy, understanding and customization that you would want.

If the roles were reversed - would YOU buy from YOU?

Overall

Seems easy enough to think about all of that, but really….are you just dialing for dollars? Or, are you actually focused and engaged on providing a solution for that particular client? Do you care? Are you an avid fan of your own product and service, or are you in that role for another reason such as monetary or financial gains?

The best salespeople are ones that truly empathize with their clients and make them feel like they are the only clients in the world! Think about that….do you make people feel like that in real life? How about personally? Professionally? How are you making others feel?

Do not make the mistake of talking ‘Over’ another individual. No one wants to hear about what you’ve done, where you did it, how you did it, or why you did it in an initial pitch phone call. If they care about it enough, they will ask. Remember, people LOVE to hear their own voice, so even if you got the prospect on a call, do not make the mistake by talking and dominating the conversations. This is the best way to ensure the potential loss of that client and to create disinterest!

Generally speaking, the person who speaks the most during a meeting or a phone call typically thinks it went the best. Be weary of your body language, eye contact (even on a video conference call), what you’re wearing, and do not make the mistake of talking over that prospect, unless they specifically are asking YOU questions!

Gahh!

I’ve seen too many of these mistakes over the years, and I hope you can take a few one-liners from this article away.

Please shoot me an email or leave me a comment if you have anything further to discuss. Remember, empathize, understand, ascertain, provide alternative and customized solutions. Ask questions, let them do the talking and they will provide you the problems, context and solutions that you will be able to give them, if you give them enough time and space to TALK about it.

Happy Hunting.

Thank you,

Cam // info@ckcollective.co