Asking the Individual if He/she is the Decision Maker.

[KCBell73]

I want opinions from others about asking the cold call if he/she is the decision maker which I try to do very early on in my call.
I have made the mistake of getting all the way through the process and at the end of an actual presentation, the prospect says they want to run this by thier partner. So frustrating. So I learned to ask this question early on.
I am interested in hearing other ways to ask this question. My favorite question is, "How do you make financial decisions in your home?" Closed questions such as "Are you the final decision maker on fincancial matters?" or "Will you need to run this by your husband/wife before a final decision can be made?" work for me as well. I always get this vital information before setting an appointment and often I will try to get this information before ever taking the time to finish a needs analysis. To me it makes no sense to waste valuable time talking to the wife who has no clue what her husband does (or vice versa). So what do you guys think? Share your questions and opinions.

 

[DHK]

"Who else, in addition to yourself, makes these kinds of decisions for your household/business?"

 

[kspear81]

sounds about right.
my colleague said he had an appointment that rescheduled. then when he got there the husband was pissed and felt blind sided about the appointment. so adamant, appointment went sour before it got started.
so he changed his approach like you.

i'll have to do the same since i'll be building my business off cold calling.

 

[Josh]

Where exactly are you starting this from though?

For cold calling anything I've ever been involved in we've just pitched whoever answers the phone and either pushed for an appointment or a follow-up call. I get the impression you're starting off on the wrong premise.

Would you like to share your current sales presentation cycle?

 

[Stephen]

I want opinions from others about asking the cold call if he/she is the decision maker which I try to do very early on in my call.
I have made the mistake of getting all the way through the process and at the end of an actual presentation, the prospect says they want to run this by thier partner. So frustrating. So I learned to ask this question early on.
I am interested in hearing other ways to ask this question. My favorite question is, "How do you make financial decisions in your home?" Closed questions such as "Are you the final decision maker on fincancial matters?" or "Will you need to run this by your husband/wife before a final decision can be made?" work for me as well. I always get this vital information before setting an appointment and often I will try to get this information before ever taking the time to finish a needs analysis. To me it makes no sense to waste valuable time talking to the wife who has no clue what her husband does (or vice versa). So what do you guys think? Share your questions and opinions.

With married couples it is simple, NEVER set a one leg, unless you are hunting for assets and are willing to do one meeting just to sell the "real" meeting.

 

[KCBell73]

MY NAME - MY COMPANY - May I speak with CLIENT NAME

MR./MRS. ________________________ I appreciate the value of your time. Are you in the middle of something urgent?
-or-
MR./MRS. _______________________ I value your attention. Have I caught you at a good time?

The reason I'm calling is I work with a non-profit financial service in the Murray area. We have been helping people save money in the areas of insurance and investments. I wondered if you would allow me to ask you a few questions to see if our services might benefit you as well?

My sales process is to make a cold call into a lead with a series of questions to fish out whether he/she is a prospect or not. Im not calling to sell something, but to see if they have a need I can and want to fill. Once I am able to get past the initial objection, I ask personal questions to start out. Such as how long have you lived in this area? Did you attend college here? Are you married? What do you do for a living? If retired what do you do to fill your time now? And the important decision maker question, how do you handle financial decision in your home? These questions warm up my lead, give the call a conversational air and give me vital information to use when I get to the needs assessment questions which by the time I get to that stage are just a few brief focused questions. For example, if I find a callee is a newly wed husband with no children my needs questions would be different than if the callee is a retired widow woman.
Also, if the callee is adverse to a conversation, then I don't really want to work with them anyway. I seek out intelligent, responsive, responsible people who I enjoy being around and truelly want to work with. I had a guy the other night who answered all my open ended questions with yes or no. It was infuriating. I finally said, you wouldn't buy water from me if you were dying of thirst. Would you? He said nope. And I said have a great life. I mean he claims to have no health insurance, no life insurance, no retirement plans and no vision. Not the kind of person I want as a customer.
Anyway, once I find a need I know I can fill I move for the appointment. I believe I can show you ... a way to save xxx dollars, to mulitply your rate of return by a factor of ???, a very inexpensive way to ensure your golden years are truly golden, etc,etc,etc I will be available Tuesday and Thursday. I would appreciate 30 minutes of your time to show you how. Do you have more time in the mornings or evenings?

So in response. What do you think now? Am I going about it all wrong?

 

[wingateexpress]

MY NAME - MY COMPANY - May I speak with CLIENT NAME

MR./MRS. ________________________ I appreciate the value of your time. Are you in the middle of something urgent?
-or-
MR./MRS. _______________________ I value your attention. Have I caught you at a good time?

The reason I'm calling is I work with a non-profit financial service in the Murray area. We have been helping people save money in the areas of insurance and investments. I wondered if you would allow me to ask you a few questions to see if our services might benefit you as well?

My sales process is to make a cold call into a lead with a series of questions to fish out whether he/she is a prospect or not. Im not calling to sell something, but to see if they have a need I can and want to fill. Once I am able to get past the initial objection, I ask personal questions to start out. Such as how long have you lived in this area? Did you attend college here? Are you married? What do you do for a living? If retired what do you do to fill your time now? And the important decision maker question, how do you handle financial decision in your home? These questions warm up my lead, give the call a conversational air and give me vital information to use when I get to the needs assessment questions which by the time I get to that stage are just a few brief focused questions. For example, if I find a callee is a newly wed husband with no children my needs questions would be different than if the callee is a retired widow woman.
Also, if the callee is adverse to a conversation, then I don't really want to work with them anyway. I seek out intelligent, responsive, responsible people who I enjoy being around and truelly want to work with. I had a guy the other night who answered all my open ended questions with yes or no. It was infuriating. I finally said, you wouldn't buy water from me if you were dying of thirst. Would you? He said nope. And I said have a great life. I mean he claims to have no health insurance, no life insurance, no retirement plans and no vision. Not the kind of person I want as a customer.
Anyway, once I find a need I know I can fill I move for the appointment. I believe I can show you ... a way to save xxx dollars, to mulitply your rate of return by a factor of ???, a very inexpensive way to ensure your golden years are truly golden, etc,etc,etc I will be available Tuesday and Thursday. I would appreciate 30 minutes of your time to show you how. Do you have more time in the mornings or evenings?

So in response. What do you think now? Am I going about it all wrong?

What non profit do you work for?

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

I want opinions from others about asking the cold call if he/she is the decision maker which I try to do very early on in my call.
I have made the mistake of getting all the way through the process and at the end of an actual presentation, the prospect says they want to run this by thier partner. So frustrating. So I learned to ask this question early on.
I am interested in hearing other ways to ask this question. My favorite question is, "How do you make financial decisions in your home?" Closed questions such as "Are you the final decision maker on fincancial matters?" or "Will you need to run this by your husband/wife before a final decision can be made?" work for me as well. I always get this vital information before setting an appointment and often I will try to get this information before ever taking the time to finish a needs analysis. To me it makes no sense to waste valuable time talking to the wife who has no clue what her husband does (or vice versa). So what do you guys think? Share your questions and opinions.

Do yourself a favor. Before you self-flagellate yourself into oblivion, invest in some real, professional sales training. It'll be the best investment, with the strongest ROI, you'll ever make. I personally like Sandler.

 

[DHK]

What non profit do you work for?

My guess is this: Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society

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MY NAME - MY COMPANY - May I speak with CLIENT NAME

MR./MRS. ________________________ I appreciate the value of your time. Are you in the middle of something urgent? Yes, I am... <click>
-or-
MR./MRS. _______________________ I value your attention. Have I caught you at a good time? No. <click>

These opening lines are HORRIBLE. You are GIVING them a reason to NOT listen to you right now.

Two things you MUST realize when making calls:
1. If it's a bad time, they would've let the call go to voicemail.
2. Since they did pick up the phone, they have a minute to be curious to see what you've got.

What I would do is this: Introduce yourself and your company name. Do you have a quick minute to talk?

You'll get one of three responses:
- Sure, I got a minute. Then you say "Great!" and continue on.
- No, I don't have a minute. "No problem. I'll try back another time."
- What's this all about? Instead of saying "Great!"... say "Well..."

The reason I'm calling is I work with a non-profit financial service in the Murray area. We have been helping people save money in the areas of insurance and investments. I wondered if you would allow me to ask you a few questions to see if our services might benefit you as well?

"Saving money" is NOT a buying motivation for insurance and investments.

One idea to consider is this: "The reason I'm calling, is I work with (company name), and we specialize in helping families, like yours to plan and prepare for their financial future. And, if I may, I'd like to ask you a few questions?"

It's slightly different, but you're personalizing it to them.

My sales process is to make a cold call into a lead with a series of questions to fish out whether he/she is a prospect or not. Im not calling to sell something, but to see if they have a need I can and want to fill. Once I am able to get past the initial objection, I ask personal questions to start out. Such as how long have you lived in this area? Did you attend college here? Are you married? What do you do for a living? If retired what do you do to fill your time now? And the important decision maker question, how do you handle financial decision in your home? These questions warm up my lead, give the call a conversational air and give me vital information to use when I get to the needs assessment questions which by the time I get to that stage are just a few brief focused questions.

You've got it backwards. You're trying to do a complete fact-find over the phone. You need to determine their needs... not get their entire background and biography. You can do that once you're in their home.

You need to identify a rather common problem that people like them usually have... and ask them questions about it. Then, if it makes sense, you set an appointment and go into the detailed fact-find.

For example, if I find a callee is a newly wed husband with no children my needs questions would be different than if the callee is a retired widow woman.

You need to become a PROFILE SPECIALIST... not an opportunist. Just because someone has a pulse and money, doesn't mean that they are your ideal client. Specialize in a profile, get to know their needs... and every case begins to look alike, and you'll have consistency in your results.

If you keep bouncing around from retiree to young families, you won't gain the momentum you need for long-term success.

Also, if the callee is adverse to a conversation, then I don't really want to work with them anyway. I seek out intelligent, responsive, responsible people who I enjoy being around and truelly want to work with. I had a guy the other night who answered all my open ended questions with yes or no. It was infuriating. I finally said, you wouldn't buy water from me if you were dying of thirst. Would you? He said nope. And I said have a great life. I mean he claims to have no health insurance, no life insurance, no retirement plans and no vision. Not the kind of person I want as a customer.

Based on your questions and script, you're not the kind of guy I'd want as an advisor either.

People are NEUTRAL... until they interact with you. The things you say, and the way you say them will either help you, or hurt you.

Anyway, once I find a need I know I can fill I move for the appointment. I believe I can show you ... a way to save xxx dollars, to mulitply your rate of return by a factor of ???, a very inexpensive way to ensure your golden years are truly golden, etc,etc,etc I will be available Tuesday and Thursday. I would appreciate 30 minutes of your time to show you how. Do you have more time in the mornings or evenings?

Be careful with "multiply your rate of return" statements. You're treading on dangerous ground here. (Unless you're talking about CDs vs a fixed annuity.)

So in response. What do you think now? Am I going about it all wrong?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Looks broken to me.

 

[KCBell73]

Thank you guys for all your advice. But my way of approaching a true cold call has worked for me. Perhaps your idea of a cold call and mine aren't precisely the same. What I was speaking to was my approach to leads which are chosen based on a few limited dynamics such as a broad age target, location and yearly reported income. When I dial what I call a warm lead, which I would consider a refered lead or a person on a highly targeted lead list, my approach is to start off with a suspected need, rather than fish for a need. But as far as this discussion goes I was talking about cold calls. And for that, I have been successful with this script.

And I do work with a fraternal. But it's not Woodmen of the World. I would be willing to bet that you can guess who it is now though.

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Also, the brief introduction I use generally is followed by a request for more information. And suddenly we are talking. I find that it takes most people a few seconds to switch gears when I call. My approach is friendly but vague for that reason. When they inevitably ask what this is I restate my company name, explain a few ways I have helped others and reiterate that the purpose of my call is to ask a few questions to determine if I can help them. I effectively draw down the sales-man defense mechanisms this way. And it works. So it doesn't feel broken to me.