Power Of Creative Selling

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Chapter 15 - How to Make Appointments

Efficiency is the capacity to produce desired results. It is the effective operation of a business or performance of a business task with a minimum of waste effort. In selling, efficiency is the ability to make the greatest number of sales with the least possible amount of effort in the shortest period of time. It is getting maximum results with minimum effort. It is the application of thought to what you are doing. It is using your head. It is the application of common sense. It is doing the right thing at the right time.

Efficiency seems to be lacking in the selling world. It is estimated by various sales managers and sales executives that the average salesman spends only about two hours of his working time each day actually interviewing the prospect or customer. All the other time is consumed by the salesman in getting from place to place, and a large percentage of his time is actually wasted by calling on prospects and customers who are not available at the particular time he calls. A salesman does not get paid for wasting time. He gets paid for using his time efficiently by turning it into sales.

As a salesman, you want to operate efficiently and effectively in order to save your time and conserve your energy. You naturally want to get your proposition in front of the prospect. The best means to do this is to make an appointment. Therefore, it is only good sense that you should use a part of your time making definite appointments. By doing so, you will be able to see more prospects effectively, and you will enjoy a greater volume of sales at the end of each week. What is an appointment? It is an arrangement for a meeting. It is laying the groundwork for an interview. It is making preparation to see the prospect face-to-face, in order to present your Sales Plan. It is really putting you there before you get there. Make it a point to make an appointment and eliminate a disappointment.

How to Make an Appointment

How can you make an appointment?

First: Write the prospect a brief letter. In this letter, state the time you would like to see him and the purpose of the interview. Make the letter brief, but cordial. Here is one that I have used:

This letter will usually get you in. It doesn't say much, but it tells a lot. It tells the prospect that you have a proposition, and it arouses his curiosity, because you tell him that you are confident that it will meet with his approval. After receiving this letter, only a cold-blooded individual could refuse to see you without a valid reason. Send your letter at least two days in advance of the time you expect to call on the prospect.

Second: Have a mutual friend write on his personal card as follows: "This will introduce Earl Prevette, who has something that you should know about. Signed, Joe Doe." Of course, this form of introduction always admits you.

Third: Have a mutual friend introduce you over the telephone as follows: "Richard, I am sending over Earl Prevette, a friend of mine, and any consideration you may show him will be highly appreciated." This form of introduction will get you in.

These different plans to arrange for an appointment are very good, but the most scientific and most effective way to make an appointment is to make it over the telephone. It is this method that can really put any salesman on the map at any place or at any time, regardless of his product.

Make the Telephone Your Junior Salesman

A great number of salesmen sell products that require a demonstration. The product must be displayed at the prospect's place of business, at the salesman's place of business, or at some other place. These salesmen can save a lot of time, save a lot of energy, and make more money, if they spend a part of their selling time each day in making definite appointments with the prospective customer. They can make the telephone act as their junior salesman. One hour each day, or even one half hour each day spent using the telephone will greatly improve the salesman's efficiency, enlarge his opportunities, materially increase his sales, and add substantially to his income.

In order to do this successfully, here are a few steps that might help you.

Organize your thoughts. Work up a little plan of action.
Decide what you are going to say to the prospect.

Organize your lists of prospects.

Call the prospect on the telephone and tell him in plain, concise words what you want to do for him.

Make a definite appointment with him.

When you see him, remind him of the telephone conversation, amplify what you told him, prove the merits of your product, make him feel that his business will never be the same without your product, get the order> and leave.

In order to demonstrate this procedure to you, and to show you how it operates in practice, I am going to assume the role of a salesman representing the Monitor Machine Company of Chicago, manufacturers of textile specialties. I have been sent to Philadelphia, to call on the hosiery trade. Bear in mind that I have never been to Philadelphia and that the Monitor Company has never sold a single specialty there. In fact, they are not known there, except through trade papers. Here I am in Philadelphia, a stranger with a strange product, representing a strange company. How am I going to operate? I turn to the classified section of the city telephone directory, and there I find an up-to-date list of prospects over 100 strong. What an opportunity! What a feast! Understand, however, that I know nothing whatever about these hosiery concerns, but I believe that they could make better hosiery by using my company's specialty.

I start with Adams Hosiery Company. In the first place, I know that the Adams Hosiery Company as such does not buy specialties. I do know that some particular person in Adams Hosiery Company buys textile specialties. My first move is to call them and ask the operator for the name of the buyer of "spindle threaders." She tells me: Mr. Buck. "Is that Mr. Harry Buck?" I ask, and she says, "No, it is Mr. William Buck." Then I politely but positively ask her to connect me with Mr. William Buck. Mr. Buck gets on the telephone and I gently but firmly tell him who I am, the company I represent, what we can do, and the service we can give to the Adams Hosiery Company. My story clicks with Mr. Buck. He wants a demonstration. A definite appointment is made. Mr. Buck sees the product, likes it, and Adams Hosiery Company is no longer a prospect, but a customer.

How the Telephone Can Increase Your Sales

Now, out of these 100 potential prospects in Philadelphia, I qualify eight and show them my product. Out of the eight, I sell five. The campaign has covered five days, and I find that, by making the telephone my junior salesman, I averaged one sale each day. How long do you think it would have taken me in person? I will let you guess. The telephone has no favorites. It will work for anyone in any line at any time. The help it can give you in selling is dependent entirely upon the use you make of it. The above demonstration brings home forcibly the great possibilities in selling, once the salesman learns to use his time and energy efficiently.

Here is a plan I worked out for the Air Cool Corporation, to interest its prospects in the installation of an air conditioning system.

First, I called Mr. Warm and said in a friendly, but positive way: "Is this Mr. Warm?" Then I proceeded as follows:

"Mr. Warm, the Air Cool Corporation calling. Earl Prevette speaking." I pronounced my name very distinctly. I continued as follows:

"We are calling you, Mr. Warm, about our new air conditioning system, which gives added comfort to your employees and increases your profits. It does so in three ways:

"First: It cleans and purifies the air. It reduces humidity and lowers office temperature. In doing so, it revitalizes your employees.

"Second: The flow of cool air gives each employee more energy, and thus increases his personal efficiency.

"Third: By stimulating each employee to do a better job, our air conditioning system will mean more profit to you.

"One of our engineers can explain the advantages and the details of installation in a few minutes. Would 10 o'clock tomorrow morning be all right?"

How to Use the Telephone Effectively

Here is a simple plan to make an appointment over the telephone with a life insurance prospect. You call Mr. Neill and say to him, "This is Earl Prevette. I called you, Mr. Neill, to tell you about the most talked-of life insurance plan in America today. This plan does five definite things for you.

"Fifth: It provides a guaranteed income for you any time after the age of fifty.

"Mr. Neill, these guarantees may prove very valuable to you, and, with your permission, I will be at your office at 10:30 to see you That's fine. . . . Goodbye, Mr. Neill."

"Where can I go today? Who can I see today?" If at three o'clock in the afternoon, someone in the theater were to shout, "Is there a salesman in the house?" over half of those present would stand. Idle hours become selling hours when a salesman uses the telephone to make appointments. He has more prospects than he can see. Running around in circles takes energy, but it does not produce results. Many good salesmen, foundered on the rocks of discouragement, could be turned into real producers by making the telephone their junior salesman.

There is another group of salesmen who cover large territories, possibly several states. It costs more money to travel than it does to use the telephone; many of these salesmen could save themselves time and money by using the telephone. Many times during the year, salesmen travel perhaps 100 or 200 miles to see a prospect, and, on their arrival, they find the prospect is out of town. This wasted time and effort can be eliminated by making appointments over the telephone. Always remember this: If a customer or a prospect will not make an appointment to see you over the telephone, he will not see you when you go in person. If he does see you, it will only be for courtesy's sake, and your chances of doing business with him are very remote. Making appointments over the telephone teaches the salesman to put a value on his time. It trains him to be more specific and definite about his product. He talks straight from the shoulder. This makes the prospect sit up and take notice; he acts with more consideration and tolerance, and has more respect for the salesman.

Selling by Appointment Will Increase Your Prestige

In some cases, the salesman is confronted with the problem of contacting groups of people before the sale is finally consummated. Sometimes these groups may live in different cities, and to see all of them would entail considerable expense and consume much time. In cases of this nature, the telephone may be used most efficiently. The salesman can make definite appointments, or he can interest each party in the sale by telephone. In any case, he should confirm the
telephone conversation in writing. Regardless of the suggestion followed, intelligent use of the telephone will complete the sale more quickly and more efficiently. Then, too, it always adds to the prestige and dignity of the salesman to make an appointment by telephone. It shows that he is putting a value on his own time and is respecting the prospect by not "butting in" at an inopportune time. The salesman who uses the telephone in making appointments is more likely to get the business than the salesman who does not.

Some time ago, I was discussing this idea of "telephone appointments" with one of Philadelphia's outstanding executives. He gave me an interesting example of why a salesman should use the telephone to make appointments. This Philadelphia executive was in Texas calling on one of his key salesmen. It seems that his salesman was working on a sale that required him to see a number of people. One of the men on whom the sale depended lived in Austin, Texas, which happened to be 250 miles away. The executive from Philadelphia suggested to the salesman that he call the Austin man on the telephone. The salesman refused to telephone, but agreed to see him in person. When the salesman arrived in Austin, he found that the man had been called out of town. Five hundred miles of travel, many gallons of gasoline wasted, valuable hours of selling time lost, and many ounces of energy burned up—for what? All his efforts had gone with the wind. By taking a minute or two to use the telephone, the salesman could have saved all this time, money, and energy. Better still, he could have used them to secure one or two more orders. Shakespeare so aptly said: "Lord! What fools these mortals be." In the above case, the executive used his head, the salesman did not. The moment
a salesman begins to use his head he begins to get ahead. A definite appointment adds to the salesman's dignity and prestige and gives him more confidence with which to sell his product. By all means, use your head by using the telephone to help you make an appointment.

Every Call Is Money in Your Pocket

Selling is not static; it is dynamic. It is a live, moving process; the prospect must be told, and told often. By using the telephone in direct selling or for making appointments, the salesman can extend his personality, broaden his influence, and capitalize on his selling ability. Every telephone call you make conscientiously will be worth money to you. Put a value on your calls; keep a record of them. Add up your results every month or so, and you will be surprised.

It seems to be the tendency of most salesmen to hit the "high spots" by picking the prospect. In my opinion, picking prospects is one sure means of overlooking many good ones. Every day, thousands of potential prospects are passed by as the salesman glides along to the one whom he has picked out. If the one he has picked happens to be out, then he is out of luck. By using the telephone, it is not necessary to pick them out, and if you make an appointment it is not necessary to "find" them out. If you do not pass prospects, but comb the territory thoroughly, you will find customers that you never dreamed existed.

Here are a few hints to follow in using the telephone. When you call a prospect, by all means try to use a clear, distinct, well modulated voice. Speak clearly into the mouthpiece, holding it not more than % of an inch from the lips. This enables the prospect to hear you distinctly. Just as there is no need to shout in the office of the prospect, there is no need to shout over the telephone. Breathe deeply, and try to be natural and unaffected. You should speak slowly enough to be understood without having to repeat. Talking rapidly or slurring words can make questions like "What did you do?" sound like "Wadjado?"

Your voice over the telephone should convey to the prospect a tone of personal interest and genuine earnestness in the service you are endeavoring to render. Be positive in your remarks, speak with authority, but say them freely, cheerfully, and cordially. Remember: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall merit the earth." In your case, "Ye shall be welcome."

New ideas, expressed in new products for the comfort and happiness of a greater number of people, can greatly expand the national income of the United States. The men and women who sell can further this expansion by using the telephone to assist them in making more appointments to tell more people about these products.
 

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Power Of Creative Selling
 

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