This morning I had the opportunity to attend an EO workshop on sales taught by Jill Konrath, author of the successful books Selling to Big Companies and SNAP Selling. Jill did a great job articulating how the sales process has changed over the past 20 years and effective techniques for today.
One of the big takeaways from the event is that salespeople should live in fear of delete. What does Jill mean by delete? The biggest enemy for salespeople is having a suspect/prospect click the Delete button on a voicemail or email. She highlighted several strategies to get a “save” instead of a delete:
- Don’t worry about mentioning your company name or job title as no one has heard of you
- Show value immediately by referencing a pain point, competitor name, relevant customer, or referral
- There’s a short amount of time to catch someone’s attention: 2.7 seconds for email and 20 seconds for voicemail
- Cut out the jargon and complicated phrases
- Pretend like you’re talking to a friend, not a prospect
Much like the number one enemy of web customer acquisition is the browser’s Back button, salespeople should keep the Delete button top of mind when prospecting.
What else? What do you do when prospecting for new customers?
David Cummings on Startups 
Excellent points, David.
When cold-calling, another favorite of mine is to always ask for permission. “Do you have 2 minutes to discuss …” Respecting a prospect’s’ time signals you are a professional and are willing keep the conversation brief if there is no interest.