Copyright 2006 Top Dog Consulting

When we were kids, most of us had some adult teach us to
greet people with a “Hello” or “Good Morning”, to say,
“Please” and “Thank you”, and to ask permission of adults
before going out to play with the neighborhood kids.

Flash forward a couple of decades and those same social
niceties are reinforced by all sorts of business and sales
gurus who tell us what we need to know we learned in
kindergarten!

So, imagine my surprise when I first heard about the
executive committee meetings where presenters received
specific, no-nonsense instructions for their conduct during
these meetings.

“State your business clearly and in bottom line terms.
Don’t ask us questions. Do tell us what we need to know to
make effective decisions. Do not say ‘good morning.’ Do not
say ‘thank you for your time.’”

By the time the Secretary/Drill Sergeant of the Corporation
finished briefing the “young first-timers”, every single
one of the rookies was shakin’ in his boots!

Social niceties are absolutely, positively, no doubt about
it, totally inappropriate at the executive level.

Being socially correct is a hard habit to break, but well
worth the effort, as you learn new language that will serve
you particularly well when cold calling executives.

Many of your colleagues call the offices of top decision
makers and say something to this effect: “Good Morning!”
“Is this a good time?” “May I schedule a meeting with the
executive?”

Your colleagues don’t realize it but as soon as the phrase,
“Good Morning” was uttered, the executive assistant quit
listening. Those seemingly innocent words triggered her
mind to conclude, “This caller does not belong at the
executive level.”

Then, the words that followed “Is this a good time? May I
schedule a meeting with the executive?” only served to
confirm her decision to keep the caller out of the
executive suites.

You’re probably thinking “you’ve got to be kidding, there
is nothing wrong with those words, I’ve used them all my
life!”

But from the perspectives of the executive and the
executive assistant, those very words are huge, red flags
indicating you don’t know the rules or the language of “The
Top Dog” executives.

What’s wrong with being polite?

Nothing. In fact politeness is always appropriate. It’s the
social niceties that’ll trip you up.

Executives and their assistants think and speak in bottom
line terms. They use language that you’ll find in a Balance
Sheet, language that will serve to help them make good
decisions quickly. Through the years, the decision makers
have trained themselves to cut out all fluff in
conversations and to be selective about where they spend
each and every precious minute of their workday.

Yes, even to the point of cutting social niceties out of
their conversations, and choosing to spend their precious
time and energy with people who think and speak in bottom
line terms.

Executives are looking for solutions to their most pressing
problems. Executive assistants are aware of the pressing
problems and are looking for callers who can provide the
executive with solutions.

You may want to read that paragraph again. Executives and
their assistants are looking to find business partners.

Executives and their assistants are looking to invite
people into the executive suites!

Most sales pros think of the executive assistant as the
gatekeeper who has the job of keeping people out. This
thinking gives all of the power to the executive assistant.

Successful sales professionals own their power. They
understand how their products and services benefit their
client companies. They assess cold calls from the
perspective of the executive assistant and then change
their cold calling script accordingly.

So how should you leverage the words of your current script?

Scrutinize your current script. Strip out the social
niceties. Make certain the words are streamlined, focused,
and bottom line. And make certain your tone of voice
indicates that through every spoken word, politeness
reigns.  Keep the scary, seemingly friendly, social
niceties out of your cold calling presentation and be
amazed at how quickly you are welcomed through the
previously closed doors of the executive suites!

Forward this article to friends—they’ll thank you for it!

—————————————————-
Author/Publisher Leslie Buterin (like butterin’ bread), is
a published author, speaker and founder of Top Dog
Consulting. She coaches sales executives and recruiters
world-wide in techniques for changing the point of entry to
the executive level. For your FREE mini-course “Jealously
Guarded Secrets to Cold Calling Company Presidents” visit
http://www.ColdCallingExecutives.com !

This entry was posted on Monday, October 23rd, 2006 at 11:18 am and is filed under Business, Sales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.