Who's agenda are you really on?

Ever found yourself in the midst of yet another fruitless cold call from a sales person who professes to be the answer to all of your business problems?

Have you found yourself during the call, internally questioning "just how do you propose to help my business when you haven't asked a single question about us so far, you've simply blurted everything about what your company does and what you want!"?

With some cold callers the more you pull away the more they feel they should push until one of you is cornered or conflict is arrived at. What is it they don't understand about
"I'm not interested"?

In each case I am confident to speculate that only one or two key elements are being missed however the impact is multiplied each time they fail to be applied within the conversation.

In truth who amongst us has the time or indeed the inclination to stop what we are doing on a busy day and listen to somebody who displays little to no genuine interest in what is important to us?

Consider how much more useful it would be if the person calling questioned effectively enough to uncover what makes your business tick, to allow you to share what has made your business successful over the course of its existence? The very fact that you are in business must mean there are any number of things really working well surely?

The true value of a cold call lies in the sales person genuinely seeking to understand the opportunities and challenges your business is facing now and is likely to face in the foreseeable future. They should strive to draw out the ambitions that lie at the core of your strategy for moving forward. Only here both of you really begin to recognise if what they offer will in fact help propel you forward and accelerate the achievement of key objectives.

When a potential supplier applies this approach they begin by demonstrating how they aim to partner you in the accomplishment of your ambitions. They don't waste your time selling you something you don't need to buy.

Angelina Foden