2.
This list is about the real-world reasons we don't make proactive calls. These are the realities of the business-to-business selling life that get in the way of our making proactive calls.
You're Very Busy – Calls and Customer Requests Come in All Day
If you've been a business-to-business salesperson for more than a year, you're very busy.
The phone rings all day long.
You're answering and reacting all day.
Answer and react.
You're serving the customer.
You have to; there's no choice.
After all, you're in the customer service business.
And you're world-class at it.
Really, who takes care of customers better than you?
They've been with you so long because you're so good at taking care of them.
Plus, when they call, you cannot say, “I'm sorry, I'm in my proactive selling window right now; please call me back when I'm being reactive again.”
Customers call you on the weekends, at night, and even when you're on vacation with your family.
You take those calls.
You help your customers.
All day.
You write up quotes your customers ask for.
You reply to email, because goodness knows customers email you a lot.
Sometimes, if you manufacture or distribute something, and your customer has an urgent need, you even get in your car and drive it over to them.
Reacting to the incoming requests of your customers – and fixing their problems – keeps you incredibly busy all day.
When there is a respite, and the phone stops ringing, you sit and breathe for a minute.
You check in with your family.
You check the scores and the news (that's allowed!).
You're super crazy busy.
And it's hard to find time to do anything else.
The Good News Is: You can make five proactive calls in 15 minutes or less, so you don't need a lot of time. In fact, because you're usually going to be leaving a message, you can often move through five calls in 5 minutes. So, of course you're busy, but you have 5 to 15 minutes a day, right? Because that's all you need here.
The Customers Who Call Are Usually Upset, and Who Wants More of That?
Customers don't call you when they're happy, do they?
They rarely pick up the phone to give you positive feedback, compliments, or congratulations.
Those reasons aren't urgent enough to pick up the phone.
When customers call, there is almost always a problem.
Or they need something.
There is stress.
They are under pressure.
It's quite possible that somebody is yelling at them.
So what do they do?
They pick up the phone and bring that stress, pressure, and yelling to you.
“Here are my problems – fix them now!”
Perhaps not in those words, but that's the general feeling, right?
And so, you only talk to customers when they bring you a problem or urgency.
“You sent the wrong parts!”
“You didn't send me enough!”
“Where is it?! How do I not have this yet?!”
“I need this now! Send it immediately!” Never mind that they waited until the last possible moment to call you to make their purchase. You have to drop what you're doing and do as they ask. There isn't really a choice, is there?
This is what happens when customers call you, which takes up most of your day, day after day.
They're rarely happy.
They're usually stressed out.
There's almost always a problem.
And when you drop what you're doing to help them, they proceed to beat you up on price.
So you almost never have positive emotions when you talk to customers who call in.
So who wants to make proactive calls for even more negativity?
Many salespeople might think, I've got enough angry customers hounding me already, buddy, so no thanks – I'm not going to call them so they can scream at me some more.
This is completely understandable.
You're human.
And you want to minimize the negativity that makes up the majority of your incoming customer interactions.
The Good News Is: The incoming calls are full of problems and frustrations, but you make proactive calls to customers and prospects when nothing is wrong. You're showing up when there isn't a problem. And, after briefly catching up, you're asking what they need help with. Their reaction will be the opposite of the emotion on your incoming calls. These customers and prospects will be grateful, pleasantly surprised, relieved, and looking for ways to thank you.
As a Result, You Don't Like the Phone
Let's review.
You're super busy.
The phone rings all day, presenting perpetual problems that must be handled immediately.
Customers who call are often frustrated, flustered, or downright angry.
And all of these reactive joys of being a salesperson come to you courtesy of …
The phone!
So who could blame you if your view of the phone isn't particularly positive?
And who could blame you if your instinct is to avoid using the phone?
The phone is a major source of daily work stress. It brings you anger, negativity, and condescension.
Me:
