Sales Credibility is #1
The decision-makers and influencers you are calling receive quite possibly 50 inbound calls each week – perhaps more. That’s in addition to emails and direct mail. With all forms of media approaching you articulating their message about technology or other topics, how can an executive possibly decide whom to speak with? Do they display immediate credibility?
- Is it the sound of the caller’s voice?
- The message itself?
- If it is scripted or peer-to-peer dialog?
- The level of confidence expressed?
- The form of a question or declarative statement to stir interest?
Credibility from the first word.
Your time is valuable. You are pressured from multiple angles. You must multi-task. Your goals are ambitious and any wasted time diverts you from your mission. But these calls may bring in a solution or suggestion that can be the ultimate panacea you need to achieve and exceed the goals set for you and by you.
The callers you will select are the ones with the right message and with credibility. As in your personal life, you will prefer to deal with peers, intellectual equals, sales professionals who have been ‘around the block’ and appreciates your situation and set of challenges. Someone who does not want to waste your time, but wants you invest a ‘time-slice’ to learn about the offering, discuss if it may be a fit, and set an action plan to learn more.
You will select a caller who can field a question without sugarcoating the answer. Someone who speaks, not using telephone scripts for setting appointments and has confidence but not arrogance. In short, professional sales associates who knows the importance of credibility in business. You’re not just looking for someone who will be going through the motion of appointment setting, no. Look beyond that to someone who is more concerned with the end game and not paltry first run metrics.
Credibility = trust = someone worth the time.
When looking to have a sales type of conversation you seek a sales professional who will not mislead you to get a sale. Knowing they speak from experience, not guesswork. Someone you can quote at a management meeting and secure respect and concurrence.
If your voice conveys this credibility, in a crowded field you will be selected for a conversation, an appointment, a meeting, and hopefully a decision. Credibility must be backed by preparation, fact, anticipation of questions, gravitas of response. Both leadership and credibility comes with intellect and experience. It is a tone of voice. It is content of writing, something everyone in business seeks to be known for. Building credibility at work for every call matters. It’s your own personal sales legacy.
