Opening a call is not easy to get right. It’s a question of knowing exactly what you want from the person you’re talking to. It’s also a question of attitude and approach.

Many telemarketers just want to get past the “gatekeeper” or person at the company you’re calling who screens calls. There are plenty of reasons why they want to do this, the biggest one being to reach the person they believe is the decision maker in a given area of the business you’re calling.

Often, these “gatekeepers” know enough to be able to answer some of the questions that you want to ask the decision maker. The goal is to see what information, if any, they are willing and able to give you.

Your job is to make it clear as to why you want to reach the decision maker in the first place. They’ve been asked to do a job (screen you) and if you annoy them by being too vague or too pushy, you’re history! You won’t get a chance to build a relationship with them or the decision maker.

When calling, you’ll want to establish whether there is any point in speaking on a particular topic with the decision maker. You should be clear that you’re purpose is to give them the opportunity to say “no” to you if the issues you present to them are unfamiliar or not a priority. Equally, if the opposite is true, you’re there to give them the opportunity to say “yes” and to continue the conversation.

Many will put you through, but some will not. If you can’t get through, offer to send an email to the decision maker email address. The email should ideally read in the same way you communicate by phone.

When you have the decision maker on the line, re-iterate the exact same thing with them as with the “gatekeeper”.

Example:
ME: “Mr Smith, it’s Shaun Gisbourne here. I don’t think we’ve ever spoken before, does that create an issue for you?

MR SMITH: It depends, what is it about? (Common answer)

ME: The point is to establish if any of the situations our clients have had are familiar to you. If they are, you may want to continue this conversation. If not, then tell me so and I’ll close the file on [Company Name]. Is that reasonable?

MR SMITH: OK, get on with it.

ME: We work with clients that are ….(ISSUE 1) or in some cases are ….(ISSUE 2) Others ….(ISSUE 3) I don’t suppose any of these are familiar to you, are they?

Mr Smith will essentially qualify himself on the basis of his answer. The result is you’ll have a discussion about the situation (problem) most familiar to him, or you won’t. Either way, you’ll be able to qualify more people more quickly and have fewer unknown quantities.

If you’re having a hard time getting started with your calls, try working with the approach above. Or call me on +44 0208 133 0702 or email shaun@phoneforbusiness.com

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