Succeed with the new "walk-away"
question, "How are you meeting your Internet security obligations?"
Having a great prospect list and the lowest prices don't help
much if all your best prospects are in the middle of a long term contract
for their voice & data services. So what do you do to get your foot in the
door and stay visible with them until their voice & data contracts come up
for renewal? Sell them managed security services by asking, "How are you
meeting your Internet security obligations?"
As in asking any sales question, delivery is key. This
question is called a "walk-away" question because it's designed to be
delivered "Columbo-style" as you walk-away from a sales prospecting
situation. As any fan of the old 1970's Columbo TV detective show knows, the
best way to get past the defenses of a wary questionee is to let them feel
like they've defeated you and start to walk away. After seeing you take the
first walk-away step the questionee assumes victory an lets down his or
her guard. That's the exact instant that you, like Detective Columbo, turn
and ask the walk-away question, "How are you meeting your Internet security
obligations?"
This question should be very effective when asked of a
business owner that has an overworked or non-existent IT (information
technology) or IS (information services) department. It's equivalent to
asking a CFO, "How are you preparing for a scheduled IRS audit?" Talk
about touching a sensitive nerve.
"How" is the Critical Word
If you simply ask "Are you meeting your
Internet security obligations?", you'll get a quick, "Sure, of course!" By
adding the word "how" to the beginning of your questions you'll buy a
few golden seconds. The seconds are golden because as the questionee
stammers a bit while attempting to create some mental list to answer your
question, each passing second creates and builds up excruciating tension
for the questionee which you them mercifully alleviate by saying, "Let me
ask you four quick questions to see if your business has Internet security
obligations that you need to meet." Glad to be released from answering the
previous more difficult question, your prospect should gladly submit to
your four quick questions.
Feel the Pain
While the pain exercise described above might
seem a bit sadistic - it's not. Salespeople do not create pain, we just
help numb business owners identify and feel it. We do this professionally,
much in the same way that an emergency room doctor might touch a nasty
bruise and ask, "Does this hurt?" After screaming in agony the patient
might say, "Not until you poked it. Stop poking it!"
Poking doesn't create pain. Poking simply
confirms and identifies existing pain that a patient may be ignoring. And
like any good doctor, a salesperson's job is to confide in their
patient/prospect, "Looks like you might have a serious problem here. My
not poking it won't make the problem go away - and it won't prevent the
problem from getting bigger and possibly killing you (wrecking your
business)."
Relieve the Pain
Look at all the customers you currently have
and consider the ones that love you the most. They don't love you because
you're a nice person or because you saved them money, they love you
because at some time in the past you relieved them from some torturous
pain they were feeling about some business situation. More than seeking
pleasure, business owners seek to avoid future pain. If you've
successfully relieved their pain once, they're likely going to want to
keep you around to help them avoid or relieve future painful business
situations.
Memorize the Questions & Watch the
Videos
The best salespeople aren't actually the best
problem solvers, they're the best question memorizers and storytellers.
They commit to memory the quick & simple screening questions associated
with all the services they sell. They know that if a prospect answers yes
to any given question then they need to give their sales manager a call.
And while closing their "yes-answering" prospect to a phone call with
their boss, the best salespeople tell a story. "Another business owner I
know just like you also answered 'yes' the that question. Here's his story
. . . "
Ask a friend or family member to explain the
plot of the last five books they read or the last five movies they
watched. Chances are they've watched more movies than read books or they
just remember the movies better. Whatever the reason, movies and videos
seem to transmit story information easier to a large audience then having
them sit down and read the same information. That's why ATEL created four
short managed security videos. So those of you interested could easily
learn the managed security stories.
Go to
www.ATELmanagedsecurity.com to read and memorize the four simple
managed security questions and to watch and learn the four managed
security video stories.
Dan Baldwin is founder of
TelecomAssociation and director of sales at
ATEL Communications Inc. Founded in 1985, ATEL is the largest NEC
telephone equipment dealer in Southern California. Baldwin works with
ATEL's carrier services division that acts as an in-house telecom master
agency to sell network services to ATEL's embedded base of 2,000 phone
equipment customers. For more information about ATEL's carrier services
division please visit
www.ATELcc.com. TelecomAssociation is a membership organization
founded in 1995 that serves the information & communication needs of its
2,500 members who distribute telecom and related services to businesses.
Got an experience that complements this
blog posting? E-mail printable submissions to
Dan@ATELcc.com .
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