I was in sales for over 30 years. Today I am semi-retired and have found that writing articles like these is a good way to educate the public. I learned many tricks of the trade during those three decades and will try to pass on a few over the course of several of these articles. The first deals with the very beginning of the sales approach. Assuming you have made an appointment to see the customer or customer, or are about to try to make a sale over the phone, you should start with an ICR or “interest-building comment.”
It’s the first thing you say after introducing yourself and your company. Often it sets the mood for the entire sales call structure. Depending on what you sell, the ICR can be very powerful. The following is a short list of typical KPIs that I and others have used quite effectively in the past:
- How would you like to save a lot of money today?
- I have an amazing new product to show you that could change your life.
- You know what most business owners neglect?
- What if I told you that I have nothing to sell you today?
- There is a secret marketing tool that only a few companies understand.
- Can you spend five minutes to win $ 10,000?
- I realized that your company is giving its biggest competitor an unfair advantage.
- Do you know where you are losing money the fastest?
- I have something free to give you that you are probably paying for right now.
- Do you know which of your employees is costing you the most?
- I researched your business and discovered something disturbing.
- I have a way to prevent one of your biggest losses from happening.
- In fact, I’ll pay you just for one minute of your time.
- I just had an experience with a similar company that I would like to share.
- What is your biggest complaint about people like me?
- Your accountant told me you hate saving money. It’s true?
- What would you rather stop operating this year or next?
That gives you a general idea of what the ICR does. It makes the receiving person think and allows the sale to continue. It’s much better than saying, “I have something to sell you, are you listening to me?”
It was pretty good sales in my day. It’s especially worth it when you’ve been delegated to an assistant or second-in-command. When that happened, he casually remarked, “It’s too bad you’re the one breaking the bad news to your boss.” Now, that statement would always get his attention. Of course they would like to know more. But I would say that I needed to speak to the decision maker in person because of the importance of the message or something affecting it.
The ICR is designed to promote the call and lead it to a positive outcome. If you’re in sales, you should be the opening salvo for every call. And yes, feel free to use any of the ones I have listed.