Now THIS Is How A Prospecting Call Should Go |

Now THIS IS How A Prospecting Call Should Go

Written by JT on March 9, 2008

Today, I called a friend I had not spoken with in months. It was great to talk to her again and catch up on what she and her husband had been up to. She has been in one of the network marketing companies with my wife, Mia, and I but took a hiatus to redefine where she wanted to go with her path in life.

She and her husband had been building their new house, taking care of his parents, and making preparations to start an offline business. She told me how she had been considering getting back into network marketing, and attacking it with new focus.

Now, one thing you should know about my friend is that she is very driven, very focused, and extremely bright. Her marketing skills were really getting sharp before she pulled away. In fact, it was a shock to both Mia and I when she announced she was pulling away from business for a while to reassess her path, etc.

Anyway, she asked what Mia and I were up to, asked about our daughter, Callie, and how Mia has been feeling (Mia is 27 weeks pregnant with our son, Max). Since I had last spoken to my friend, Mia and I started an additional network marketing opportunity and it has been amazing.

The point of me recapping my conversation with this friend of ours is that we hadn’t talked in over four months, but yet it felt like just yesterday. The conversation went fluidly and two of our objectives were met.

First and foremost, we caught up on where we were in our lives again. And secondly, I was able to direct a friend to our new business without pressuring her and making her feel uncomfortable. To be fair, this phone call was not intended to be a prospecting call at all, but it highlighted some important clues that I will use as teaching points.

This was not a typical “prospecting” call. I followed the advice of Michael Oliver and his natural selling techniques and I highly recommend this method for both your cold and warm markets.

I have to tell you, this way of approaching a conversation is to say the least, so much more comfortable… Unlike the traditional methods of “selling”, there was no pressure, no attachment to the outcome, and the intention was first and foremost to catch up and secondly to see if she was open to a new opportunity.

If you approach all your conversations, whether you’re friends, they are a member of your family, or you don’t know them at all, you will find that this method will make everyone feel at ease. Here’s the gist of Natural Selling:
1. Set the intention before you pick up the phone that you are out to HELP the other person and that you’re NOT attached to the outcome.
2. Inquire about them, their family, their work, etc. (because it is ALL about them)
3. Ask questions that will see if they are open to an opportunity at this time (After all, this is about the right timing for them).
4. Do NOT be eager to “tell” them everything about what your business when they ask how you are doing.
5. Make sure you give them a website or directions to get the information on their own terms, their own time, with no pressure.
6. Really listen to their answers and respond rather than react (if you react, you’re more likely to be thinking of what you want to say next while they are talking and are too much in your head… therefore you’re not truly listening!)
7. Let the conversation take its natural course.
8. And again, do not get attached to the outcome (Remember, you were calling to see if this opportunity was the right fit for THEM).

Try this approach the next time you feel like stuffing your excitement about your business opportunity to someone else, whether you know them or not, and you’ll walk away a lot more content with yourself and the conversation.
~See you in the next post,
JT