Even though our job as salespeople is to talk to humans and help them, we avoid the telephone.

We don't call because we assume the customer is on the phone constantly, being called by everybody. This is not true. Everybody else is also avoiding the telephone.

We don't call because we assume we will annoy the customer. This is not true. Most of your customers will be happy to hear from you.

We don't call because we assume the customer will call us if they need us. This is not true. They are busy, so they call only when it's urgent. Like us, they call only when it's reactive for them. They do not call proactively. They will simply keep buying things from your competition that you could help them with. And they will assume you are not interested, since you are not calling.

It's our job to call our customers proactively.

But we do not call, because we are afraid.

We are afraid of being rejected—the top fear for salespeople. We are afraid of making the customer angry. We are afraid of being yelled at. We are afraid, ultimately, of losing the customer.

If I call, the customer will get so mad, she will dump me for the competition.

As covered in depth in Part I of this book, this is an automatic reaction. It usually happens unconsciously.

Because they are so ingrained in us, we are usually not even aware of these fears that keep us from using the phone.

But now you should be aware.

Use the “Proactive Call Planner” in this chapter to lay out the people you will dial up and transfer them to your “One‐Page Sales Planner.”

And make the calls.

You'll find, like nearly all of my clients do, that it's nice to have a conversation with your customers and prospects when they don't need anything from you urgently.

And your customers will also enjoy the interaction.

You will be the only one calling them like this, and it will set you above the competition.

Four Hours a Week

Several years ago I researched how much time outside and inside salespeople spend on the phone.

The goal was to determine the hours spent actively engaged in speaking to customers and prospects on the phone.

What I found did more than surprise me.

It stunned me.

It staggered me.

On average, salespeople spend four hours a week on the phone.

Four!

The best salespeople spend around six hours a week.

The worst ones spend an hour or two weekly.

This begs the question: there are 40 work hours in a week. The job is to talk to people to help them buy from you. The average salesperson spends four hours a week doing this on the phone. What are they doing the other 36 hours?

Here are the top three answers I get:

Email.

Research.

Driving. (Does the phone work in the car?!)

The truth is, we avoid the phone.

We'd rather check our fantasy team scores than call customers and prospects.

My clients see their phone time increase from 4 hours a week to 8 to 10 hours. Most clients see a doubling of phone hours, at a minimum. Some triple their phone hours. Ironically, however, you don't increase phone time by asking your salespeople for more hours on the phone. A different approach is needed. More on this a bit later in this chapter.

Telephone Scenes

Here are three powerful stories about the telephone.

Nobody Calls Anymore

We assume that our customers get phone calls from their suppliers and partners all the time.

But think about your own days at the office: how many one‐on‐one phone calls do you get from your own suppliers?

You might have conference calls.

Or the supplier may call when there's something urgent or terrible happening.

But what about proactive “How are you? How's your family?” calls?

Not many, right?

How many in the last month?

Probably not even one, right?

We assume our customers are fighting off phone calls all day.

This is not true.

Your competition, because they are also human, deal with the exact same fears you do. And they are not reading this book (Well, most likely not.)

Want to stand out?

Pick up the phone.

Why Don't We Call?

I discussed why we don't pick up the phone in depth in Part I.

But if you skipped straight to the actions in this book: the short answer is fear.

We are afraid of upsetting the customer; imposing upon the customer; taking up the customer's time; annoying the customer. We are afraid of being rejected. We are afraid of failure. Ultimately, as I stated earlier in this chapter, the greatest fear is that we will lose the customer.

I said this in Part I, but it needs to be repeated here: most salespeople's fear of rejection is apparently greater than our need to feed our families. That is, we'd rather not call the customer than expose ourselves to the possibility being denied and rejected by them.

So we don't call.

That's why we don't call.

All the Good That Happens When We Call

Here's a list of all the goodness that you create when you pick up the phone:

• You are standing out from the crowd with this customer, because the competition is not using the phone like you are.
• Customers will be happy to hear from you. Once they get over their shock about you not needing anything from them, you will have a very pleasant conversation.
• You will have an opportunity to ask the customer what they are working on in a relaxed setting. And they will answer, arming you with information you would simply not have otherwise.
• You will be able to tell the customer about other products and services you can sell them to them.
• Your proactive phone call will demonstrate to the customer that you care—and that's really all customers want. We human beings want to know that the people we are working with care about us. It's not a whole lot more complicated than that. When you avoid the phone, you are demonstrating just the opposite!
• If you call a customer regularly, they will send you more business. Why? Because you're present. You will be in the front of their mind, not the competition. The backscratcher will have your name on it, not the competition's.

There is no downside to calling customers. Only great value to them and to you.

You Don't Increase Phone Hours by Trying to Spend More Hours on the Phone

When I increase salespeople phone hours from 4 hours to 8 or 10 hours per week for my clients, I don't do it by asking the salespeople to spend more hours on the phone.

I ask them to make more calls.

Remember, we focus on what we can control: the swing mechanics.

Picking up the phone and dialing a customer or prospect is something we can control.

But how many hours we spend on the phone is the opposite: it's not up to us. It depends on the availability of the person we are calling.

Instead, we measure quantities of phone calls.

How many proactive phone calls do you want to make this week? Five (one per day)? Ten? Twenty (four calls a day)? That's the goal. And then, whether you talk to the person or you leave a message—yes, we leave voicemails in the Selling Boldly approach to sales growth (more on this next)—it counts.

Quantity is the goal.

Because quantity allows us to control our fate.

Leave That Voicemail!

Many salespeople perceive leaving a voice message as a failure.

No!

You haven't failed anything!

It's exactly the opposite: you've succeeded! The customer got to hear your voice, and we know for a near fact that they are not hearing the competition's voice.

As with the rest of our language, it's easy and light. There's no pressure here. In fact, I tell him there's nothing urgent. I tell him I was thinking about him. That's a compliment. I tell him I just want to catch up in general. I'm interested in what's happening with him. I'm present (the competition isn't). I care. I tell him the exact time and date I'll call him back if I don't hear from him. I've found some customers actually put that time and date on their calendar instead of calling me back, because for some reason that's easier for them. Go figure, but whatever works, right? But as soon as I tell him the date and time in that voicemail, it goes on my calendar, so I do it. I block off the time.

Create your own script, but leave it light. No pressure. No pushing. You're just thinking about them. You care.

Who knew leaving a message communicated all this?!

Leave the message!

Who to Call?

Use the “Proactive Call Planner” to lay out who you will call. You can fill out this monthly planner over a couple of weeks, as you wish, and then transfer over your weekly calls onto your “One‐Page Sales Planner.”

As you fill out this planner, I don't want the name of the company. List the names of people here. You're not having conversations with companies. You're speaking with people, so list the people.

There are eight different categories of contacts you can lay out here, half for customers you are already working with, and half for prospects who are not currently buying from you.

These are the categories:

1. Customers who currently buy from you, but can buy more from you. As you list the names here, also write down what other products they can buy from you. Your list would contain a name and additional product names or numbers, additional services, or additional quantities, which are also fair game.
2. Customers you haven't talked to in six months or more. This is an absolutely stellar list of people to call, and has resulted in many tens of millions of dollars in new sales for my clients over the years. Who's buying from you on autopilot? If there are customers you haven't talked to in at least six months, there is a very high chance they need more products and services from you. Call them.
3. Customers who used to buy, but stopped. Go back through your CRM, or your old emails, or your old contracts and invoices, and dig up a list of people who used to buy but no longer do. Reach out to them.
4. Good customers who just received products or services from you. Call them and do a post‐delivery call (detailed in Chapter 34). Call them and ask if everything arrived in good shape. Ask if they're happy. Ask if there's anything else you can do. If not, pivot to another of our actions, like a did you know, or a reverse did you know, or a referral request.
5. Prospects you talked to, but they've never bought. Reach out again. Remind them about your conversation and that you're thinking about them.
6. Prospects you know are buying elsewhere. Think about your universe of potential customers. Make a list of people who are not buying from you, but are buying from your competition. Call them and tell them their lives would be better with you.
7. Prospects you've never talked to and wish to connect with. Who have you been meaning to call but have not done so yet?
8. Prospects you're actively engaged with, but have not yet bought. Give them a jingle. Remind them that you care, and you're present.

Is there some overlap here?

Sure, but who cares?

My goal is to give you some specific categories of contacts and prompt you to make a list of names you will call in the coming weeks or month.

Don't set this up for more than one month in advance.

A shorter time is okay (you can make a list that lasts two or three weeks, for example), but make a new one once the last one is a month old. Keep updating this list.

What to Say

This the fun part.

That's it.

That's really all you need to get started.

Complicated, right?

And then, if the conversation is flowing well, and you're enjoying yourself, pivot very lightly and gently to the business at hand.

You're not pitching or selling or annoying or bothering with this question.

You're just inquiring about their work.

Most likely the customer or prospect will steer the conversation over to areas you can help them with.

Remember to ask your question, and be silent until the other person speaks.

Let them think.

They're not used to phone calls like this either.

In fact, one week into making these kinds of proactive phone calls, you will have far more experience with them than the customers and prospects you are calling.

Set the Calls Up If You Wish

I can hear you saying, “But my customers don't just sit by the phone.”

Mine don't either.

So, about half the time, I like to set these up somewhat in advance.

If I have a cell phone relationship with my client, I will text them:

If I don't have their cell phone number (which means they're probably a prospect, because I have the cell phone numbers for nearly all my clients), I'll email the preceding script.

Here's why it works: it's short, easy, light, no‐pressure, offers a compliment (I was thinking about you) and only asks for a few minutes. All that in a super‐quick text. Ninety percent of the time, you'll find the answer is, “Good to hear from you, absolutely. How's 2 P.M.?”

Your Objections to Making Calls and My Responses

Allow me to list your top objections and discomfort at this moment, and react to them.