Hello, Newman

I am an avid “Seinfeld” fan. In fact, I reference the best show of all time at least once every day. Those of you who have attended my training sessions can certainly confirm this.

As I was watching “Seinfeld” with my 14-year-old son last week, one reoccurring scenario really got me thinking about sales and prospecting. I know what you’re thinking: “Ray, how in the world are you going to make this a Sales Minute?”

Here’s the scenario: Newman, the mailman, lives in Jerry’s apartment building. He and Jerry hate one other. When Jerry sees Newman, he greets him disdainfully with, “Hello, Newman.” Newman returns the greeting with an equally disdainful, “Hello, Jerry.”

When some sales people prospect, they get the same greeting from their prospects that Newman gets from Jerry. Here’s the scene:

Salesperson: “Hi, my name is Newman and I work for Newman Enterprises. We provide document destruction programs for companies like yours and would like to talk to you more about this. When would be a good time?”

Prospect: “Hello, Newman. We’re not interested. Now is not a good time.”

Sounds just like the “Seinfeld” scenario to me. When a salesperson prospects with an uninteresting message, prospective clients tend to greet him or her the same way Jerry greets Newman.

What can you do to avoid this reception when prospecting? Try these suggestions:

  • Have a message that appeals to the prospect.
  • Appeal to the entire market (i.e., preventing ID theft).
  • Avoid a stereotypical sales pitch. Customers are used to the same old sales junk.
  • Don’t talk about your stuff, talk about the prospect’s stuff. What’s important in their industry?
  • Lead with employee training and compliance, not with your list of shredding and records storage services.
  • Don’t be covert or sneaky in your call; be collaborative, honest and straightforward.
  • And please don’t say, “Hi, this Newman. How are you today?” Prospects will be on their guard.

If you have an interesting message that is full of value and that engages your prospects, you will likely be greeted more like Kramer than like Newman.

 

Ray Barry is vice president of Total Product Destruction and president of Total Training Services, which operates The Shred School in Spartanburg, S.C. Barry can be contacted at raybarry@totaltrainingservices.com or at 864-699-8417.

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