The phone call was like many phone calls I receive. The guy wanted tell me how his company could help me save money on a service we use.
I get lots of these calls. Insurance, phone service, cleaning, office supplies, Internet access, advertising, investment. If someone called selling me rare albino kittens, I’m not sure I’d be surprised. I bet you get your share as well.
My office staff can even tell by the caller’s voice, attitude, or the sound of the connection what the call is about.
“It’s for you Glenn. It’s someone selling something.”
Do you want these calls? Even if someone really can help our business, I tend to believe that it is not cost effective for me to stop work to figure it out.
As I told a guy recently, “Even if you give this to me for free, the time away from my work at-hand to make a change will take me two years to recoup even IF what you say is right.”
Of course, the cold calls are easy to notice. And easy to complain about. I even feel sorry for the poor folks who have to resort to this line of work for income. It’s got to be tough work. I try to be polite.
ARE YOU GUILTY TOO?
What most of us fail to pay attention to in our daily interactions with clients, potential clients, lenders and other agents is how much of our day we spend selling too.
Some of what we sell is not a home or a plot of land. It may just be an idea, a belief, a desire. It may be where to go to lunch, to agree to a date, or to convince someone to leave you alone.
What most of us forget to do is the same thing these cold call sales people forget: Empathy, consideration, and understanding.
We want others to know the real value they bring us, and be able to quickly explain how it is meaningful to us. We want them to be genuinely considerate of our time, to be respectful of our beliefs, and aware of how they treat us.
We only want things that really should matter to us, not what someone just happens to be selling. And since that is what we all want, to be effective you must remember to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Stop selling. Be of value.
It will work out to your advantage, I promise.
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