Intro Calls Aren’t For Selling

Yesterday I wrote a quick note about how to make sure that you’re not scaring leads away with your Lead Capture Pages. I emphasized how important it is to get on the phone with them as soon as you can. We got some feedback from this, and a lot of people said that they just didn’t know how to “pitch” their product on this type of initial call.

The simple answer – Don’t Pitch!

After all, you hardly know this new lead from a hole in the wall. All they did was fill out a form (a short one if you read my post yesterday), and now you’re following up. Your first call should just be to explore (try using that word when you’re talking with them) their needs, and see if whatever you have will be a good fit. There’s no harm there, right? If they hear you start to pitch a sale, they’ll start to put their blockers up. Nobody likes being “pitched” to. So just don’t pitch.

Get to know them, figure out what problem it is they want solving. If it turns out they have a problem you might be able to solve, ask them something like “Would it be alright with you if we setup a time tomorrow so that we can explore this a little more?” Setup that time, and then schedule your follow-up call.

Taking this soft approach does two things:

1) It makes the prospect feel important. If they feel that you’re genuinely interested in exploring their needs, they aren’t going to hit you with a bunch of objections. In fact, they can’t hit you with objections because you aren’t trying to sell them anything.

2) It takes the pressure of you. If you don’t create this pressure that you need to pitch to them on the call, you’re going to feel more comfortable, and the person on the other line will sense that, and it will help build trust.

Now, go give that a try – and let us know how your first few calls go!