Sales training – Get past the gatekeeper with the correspondence technique

If you run a sales team, I think you may agree that prospecting over the phone is still one of the biggest challenges for them, isn’t it?

It has gotten a lot more difficult because many of our prospects can only be reached on their cell phones. If they’re anything like me, they probably don’t answer a number that is unknown to them, and let the message go through to voicemail.

Getting prospects to answer a voice note is a challenge for another day.

Let’s imagine, for the sake of today’s exercise, that your sales person phones a prospect’s landline number and a PA/Receptionist answers.

Over the years I have written many telephone prospecting scripts for my clients. I have found that the Correspondence Technique is the most effective for getting past gatekeepers:

Me: “Is Mr. Philips in?

Gatekeeper: “Yes.”

Me: Would you mind telling him it’s Jacques de Villiers from Mindfluence on the line? I’ll hold, thanks!”

Gatekeeper: “What’s your call in connection with?”

Me: “It’s in connection with some correspondence we’ve had together. I’ll hold thanks.”

That’s it, that’ll get you through more times than not.

Of course, for it to work, you have to have sent some kind of correspondence to your prospect. It gives context and keeps you honest. Also, the word ‘correspondence’ has more gravitas. It is implied that it is something important.

If you think this technique is helpful, share this with your team.