It’s Not About You

One of the challenges facing rental sales reps is getting the prospect’s attention at the beginning of the sales call. Unfortunately many reps don’t even realize that the prospect is not listening to them as they deliver their canned approach of “would you be interested if I could save you money,” or, some other spiel they automatically spout off at the beginning of the call.
Recently I was working with a seasoned sales rep and noticed his opening line was the same on every call. It went something like this:

“Hi, I’m Bob Smith and I’m with ABC Uniform Rental Service. We rent uniforms, floor mats, shop towels and mops. I wanted to stop by and see who you were using for your service and see if I could save you some money.”

During each call the prospects’ eyes glazed over communicating “Here’s another sales rep schlepping their service and wasting my time. They all say the same thing; I can save you money. My service is better; blah, blah, blah.”

After several calls I asked the sales rep if he noticed that the prospects were not engaging with him. He replied that was just how cold calls worked. If he made enough of them someone would respond and grant him an appointment.

Here’s the thing. Stop and ask yourself, what is important to the prospect? What are they are worried about? What keeps them awake at night? What challenges are they facing? What goals are most important to them? Are those challenges increasing revenue, improving safety, employee retention, company image or increased profitability?
If you incorporate what is important to the prospect in your opening statement (i.e. elevator speech, 15 second commercial) in a manner that doesn’t sound like every other sales rep coming in the door, your chances of obtaining an appointment or turning the cold call into a presentation increases dramatically. Here’s an example:

“Hi, I’m Bob Smith and I’m with ABC Uniform Rental. I help companies like yours increase their sales and profitability through our unique image and safety services. Who is responsible for making those decisions?”

By crafting your opening statement to include those topics that are at the forefront of the prospect’s mind you will engage them more quickly and increase your chances for a meeting. Work with your wording until it sounds professional and comfortable. Pay attention to what piques the prospect’s interest and change it up to see what works best. Remember, it’s not about you. It’s all about the customer.

Great Selling!

RentalSalesRep.com is a Remote Sales Management organization that provides digital sales training and support to the Textile Rental Industry.
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