We have a client that has a sales team that doesn’t leave the building.  They spend 100% of their time building relationships with their customers via telephone.  In the world of voice mail, can you imagine how difficult that might be?  Can you imagine the skill it takes to communicate with someone without the benefit of non-verbal communication?  Their listening and questioning skills need to be spectacular. They have tracked the number of calls when they speak to their targeted customer live, versus leaving a voice mail.  It is amazing that they receive voice mail 72% of the time.  The message they leave better be clear, concise, and compelling if they want the customer to take the time to speak to them.  That won’t happen if they don’t prepare before they make the call.

I recently worked with them on their sales and coaching process.  Their direct manager, the VP of Sales  and I sat in a conference room and silently monitored the calls the sales team made.  We were able to listen to who prepared for voice mail and who didn’t.  We were able to listen to the messages they left, and then discuss how we might improve the message.  I was actually embarrassed by one persons message.  She spent 16 seconds talking about who she was and asking about the customer’s fishing trip- on voice mail. After that, she didn’t ask for a call back.  Have you ever done that?  Honestly?

At least the call was quick and relatively low cost from a salary stand point.  Imagine if she had driven 2 hours and then spent an hour wandering around her customer’s location with the same lack of focus.  It would have cost several hundred dollars to make the sales call.  Have you ever done that?  My suggestions is to review your sales objectives from the perspective of your individual customer.  What value are you going to bring them with your sales call?  Why should they spend their time with you versus another sales person…or nobody?  Do you bring them value in each sales call, in each e-mail, in each voice mail?  I would challenge you this week to think about where you are going and what value you are bringing to each contact that you are meeting with.  You want to know how to add value?  Ask your contact.