The Marketing Executives Group International

Author: Michael A. Brown
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-a-brown/3/918/979

Summary: Even with all the “e-“ and social media, human dialogue remains integral to B-to-B marketing. Here’s how to do it right.

            The seat belt sign has just gone off and you’re free to move about the cabin. But instead, you strike up a conversation with the person next to you. The operative word here is “conversation.” It would never occur to you, nor should it, to begin asking your new contact a string of closed-ended qualifying questions. Indeed, you’d be committing a serious social faux pas if you were to “grill” your fellow traveler. You’d take the more appropriate, courteous approach of asking open-ended questions with genuine interest. Then you’d actually listen to, consider, and absorb the answers.

            Now switch scenes to your company, where your marketing and sales reps are making calls to, and taking calls from, people representing other companies with which you’d like to do business. How do the calls sound? Are you hearing conversations … or interrogations? Are your reps engaged in business dialogue … or are they pitching? Are your reps really listening … or are prospects suffering under relentless one-way questioning by a tele-prosecutor? Are reps responding interactively … or are they behaving mechanically, focusing on completing the required CRM fields? In short, are you hearing marketing and selling .. or business prevention?

            Good business starts with good conversations. Here’s how to advance the art of the direct marketing conversation.

            Scripts bore. Call guides sell. One of the coolest aspects of talking with people on airplanes is that neither party presumes to know anything about the other’s business, priorities, or concerns. But you can have a great conversation anyway. The same goes for marketing and sales conversations. That’s why I urge you to throw away any “scripts” you’re using and replace them with Call Guides.

            Call Guides feature recommended questions, many open-ended, that enable and encourage the prospect to talk. Your reps use the Call Guides to manage the conversation, thereby gathering the information you need. But please be clear: the purpose is to learn about the prospect so you can mutually determine whether you have a viable reason for doing business and, if so, how to go about it. Data field completion is the result of the conversation, not its purpose.

            Always make the first question open-ended.        For example, “Mr\Ms Prospect, of all the webinar invitations you received recently, how did you decide to join ours?” The “how” question works well, as does “Tell me about, “ because it provokes an “essay” answer. Compare and contrast these conversation starters with the all-too-common and stale “I noticed you signed up for our webinar and I’m just calling to see if you have any questions.” The former generates dialogue, the latter alerts the prospect that he or she is in for a form-completion exercise or worse.

On the phone, you are “on the air!”Talk like you talk, not like a web page or brochure. Make sure every prospect and customer hears your best inflection and modulation. Inflection means variation in your vocal pitch. Modulation means changing your tone of voice and\or pace. Ask your questions with interest rather than with emphasis on capturing the answer. Ask additional questions based on the prospect’s responses, NOT on the next data field on your contact screen. Temper your enthusiasm and questioning with humility, but not weakness.

            Re-orient the intelligence-gathering process from simply getting answers to actually hearing and understanding. Train and direct your reps to listen carefully to prospects’ responses and then make their data entries. Emphasize that their conversations must drive data capture, not the other way ‘round.

Early in the conversation, I recommend at least two open-ended questions to every one closed-ended. With the dialogue fully underway, make it one-to-one. Later on, as you close on the commitment or order, it is OK to ask closed-ended detail questions such as, “Do you prefer 3pm or 4pm?” or “How many shall we include?” If you must ask more than three closed-ended questions in a row, as often is the case in qualifying technical requirements, let the prospect know you are going to do so: “Ms\Mr Prospect, may I ask you five specific questions about your present system configuration?” Then follow your closed-question series with an open-ended question.

Don’t try to learn everything at once.On the first call, whether inbound or outbound, try for six solid answers but be willing to settle for four. Remember, this is business-to-business, not consumer “telemarketing.” You are trying to establish the foundation for a business relationship. You’re not expecting a one-call-close or looking for a “one night stand.” And you certainly don’t want to chase customers away by asking 58 detailed questions before prospects get to tell you what they want. Often, it’s wise to have two or three substantive marketing conversations before releasing a rated prospect into the sales process.

But what about your campaign colleagues, product managers, and market researchers who insist that you ask all 58 questions RIGHT NOW? Tell them to phone your CEO during Sunday dinner and try it. The issue will be moot on Monday morning. Net: good marketing, not the “third degree” is what wins.

Conduct conversations at business parity. Another terrific aspect of talking with fellow travelers is that you communicate as equals. Titles and corporate positioning have no bearing, if they come up at all. Parity rules! Likewise, in business marketing by phone, you absolutely, positively must communicate as a business peer. Behave as an equal, not a subordinate. Deliver your greeting (inbound) or your opening (outbound) as planned, with enthusiasm but not breathlessness. Do not diminish yourself with phrases such as, “I know you’re busy” or “real quick,” “brief,” or “I’m just calling to … “. Do not plead for access or apologize for requesting it. Forthrightly state the true reason for your call: why a conversation is merited. Attend to your word choice: verbs compel attention and interest better than nouns or adjectives. Say lots of verbs!

The challenges and how to meet them.Even with all these techniques and a good Call Guide, conversing at parity is one of the hardest things for many phone-based marketers. Sometimes, it’s because of the age and maturity difference between the rep and the prospect: a recent college grad calling a corporate managing director, for instance. Other reps, in their heart-of-hearts, may never consider themselves business peers of their prospects or customers. For example, a caller who formerly provided administrative assistance to a vice president may lack the ability, life experience – and perhaps the will – to talk “ear-to-ear” with a prospect at the old boss’s level. Conversely, the brash hotshot, who acts as if arrogance equals parity, may bully customers and prospects and lose you more business than he or she wins.

To bring all these positive recommendations to life, it is crucial to hire bright, self-assured callers who can conduct comfortable business conversations with you! Then assign them to their strength: sales, marketing, customer care, or product\technical support. Train them, and reinforce the training with frequent live-call monitoring and coaching. Motivate them by inclusion. Sustain them with recognition. And reward them for results!

The captain has turned the seat belt sign on again. Please return to your seat and fasten your seat belt. But you can continue your conversation! If you do it well, you may find, as Bogie did in “Casablanca,” that this could be the start of a beautiful friendship. And good business, too!