Dismissals and rejection…To know or…

Dismissals and rejection…Two possible options

We’ve all heard the tales of some soaper being verbally lambasted (or worse) in a cold call by a prospect who was wronged (or thought they were) by him or (probably) by somebody from his organization sometime in the distant past.

And while that’s certainly happened, it’s not an experience most of us have had to endure. Truth is most of those stories are probably either exaggerations or just fabrications that make for interesting yarns.

But on a lesser scale, we can all recall instances of being dismissed by a buyer who was either too busy or too disinterested to give us the time of day. In the first case if we made that call at 11:15 on a busy lunch eatery we probably got what we deserved. That might be a less than great time to stop in to see that category of prospective account.

As for that disinterested prospect, we need to be sure to tailor our opening idea to one that has the broadest possible range of interest. Positing the idea of sparkling stemware to a casual eatery might not be the best opener we ever came up with. Maybe banishing stained coffee cups will be a bit more on the mark.

No matter the situation, we can lessen the chance of a dismissal with more leg work. And, if sometime in the past, we really did wrong that customer maybe a longer cooling off period – or waiting for a management change is in order.

Next up: They can’t eat us.

To know or…To really know

Walking into that cold call blind (unknown-unknown) may not be avoidable ever time. But with a bit more leg work we can lessen the problem and perhaps eliminate it all together. With our years in the business, and (hopefully) an array of allied vendors that we know – and who call on those same accounts, we have a built-in intelligence network pretty much at our fingertips.

That equipment service company we occasionally recommend is just one example. Another might be the folks servicing their water softening needs and don’t overlook the equipment distributor who sell them everything from utensils to ovens. Those and other vendors can be a great resource for getting a fix on both “who’s who” and “what’s what” in that heretofore unknown unknown.

Anytime we can lessen that third unknown it’s a win. With more knowledge in hand regarding the personalities involved, the nature of their needs, their service expectations and anything else about the account can be immeasurably valuable. And with that intelligence in hand, just maybe that opening favorable attention comment will be a little more on target!

Next up: Developing those contacts.