My Ten Tips for Getting through the Screen

By Carol Super, Author, Speaker & CEO, Selling without Selling

Answer this: What’s the most challenging aspect of the sales process? Presenting? Negotiating? Closing? Most salespeople would immediately say, “Getting the appointment!” And what’s the most difficult aspect of getting the appointment? Right! Getting past the screener. These surefire 10-steps reveal the secret of getting through.

I’m a print media salesperson. However, whether you’re offering media, insurance, software or anything else, getting through to a prospect is obviously a very necessary and usually very challenging first step.

After many years of experience, these are the ten steps I have developed to increase my rate of success in getting appointments:

1. I make friends with the screener
   
   • I make it very clear that I realize that he or she has very important job and that you recognize that their responsibility is to only let calls through which are of value or potential value to their employer.
   • I make sure I know the screener’s name…and
   • As much as possible about them
   • When I do get an appointment and get to meet the screener in person, I bring a token gift of appreciation for their help. That is, a Starbucks gift certificate. “Thanks for all of your help. Have some coffee on me.”
    
2. I always try to have a referral name to use. The referral could simply be one of your clients with whom you were successful. i.e. “One of your competitors, Acme Widgets, doubled their response rate with our program.”  
    
3. I try not to leave a voicemail, unless it’s the umpteenth time I’ve called. You or your assistant can find out from the screener when’s the best time to reach the prospect. Many executives, like you, may be early arrivers and/or work late. Also, sometimes right before and after lunch I can find people at their desk.
    
4. I prepare a voice mail script before I leave a message. But first…I often just call to hear the sound of the prospect’s voice and their manner on their voicemail message. It gives me a clue to the type of individual they are. I check for whether their voice sounds inviting or whether they speak in clipped phrases, for example. I try to match my tone and demeanor to theirs. If they speak quickly, so do I. If they sound easy-going and friendly, then that’s how I sound, too. Remember, people are most comfortable dealing with and trusting those persons who seem to be most like themselves.
   
   The three basic criteria for a good voice mail message are:
   • Be brief
   • Get to the point…and most importantly…
   • Include a ‘benefit’ that makes it worthy of returning
 
Having a benefit makes a critical difference, as does a referral or the name of a satisfied customer he or she might know.
 
5. When leaving a voice mail, I make sure to repeat my name at the end. In fact, I repeat my name and phone number twice.
    
6. I am prepared to answer the inevitable question from the screener: “What’s this about?” Once again, use a referral or the name of a competitor who was successful with your product or service. Mention to the screener that their boss will definitely be interested in the details of the programs or products that have worked so well for the referral person or competition.
    
7. I find out the prospect’s email address. Then I develop and send an attention-getting email note so that when I or my Assistant calls the screener back, I can say, “I’m just following up on a note I sent to Jerry.”
    
8. I memorize a script and keep it in front of me…and practice it until it sounds totally natural. This is key.
    
9. Finally, if none of the above gets me through, I send a creative gift to the prospect. For example, I once sent a premium chocolate bar with a note that said: “This chocolate bar is very rich and so is the demographic our company delivers.” For one high profile, impossibly difficult prospect I sent a live canary in a cage with a note that said, “Give me five minutes of your time and you’ll sing our praises, too.” He called me personally the next day to set up an appointment.
    
10. Think of the client that you are pursuing and why you are a good match and make the token gift appropriate. There is another tool I use to ensure my successful persistence when it comes to making more sales calls or reaching that key person. It’s a concept that separates successful salespeople from also-rans:
• I keep track of what my call-to-appointment ratio is for the week. I write down the calls and dials and circle only the calls I get through to and then indicate with a double circle those with whom I get an appointment.
• And I make my calls at various times of the day. From very early to quite late, to match the work styles and schedules of those I’m trying to reach.
   
Recently, one Friday, I made 35 calls and got only 2 appointments…but they were definitely worthwhile. In my biz, as with most businesses, it takes 20 calls to get 1 appointment.