(By Chris Stonick) Most consultants want to tell you how great they are. And sure, if you have a few minutes, I’ll probably go down that same path. But in reality, I have been on more than my fair share of bad calls. And I think you can learn as much or more from bad calls than you can from good calls.
More than once, and you can normally tell very quickly, I’ve been talking with a client that I KNOW is not going to buy.
I am talking about recruitment, but this could be any sales situation. They’re telling me how great their company is, that they pay the most money, that they have the best benefits, and that the only people that leave are the ones that retire, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in their retirement fund. At this point, I know I’m not going to get a signature, but that doesn’t mean I am going to leave empty-handed.
I’ll simply say to the client, “Sounds like you offer the best of the best, like business could not be better. So, this idea probably isn’t for you. But do you have any friends that run businesses that are not experiencing the same success?”
I have asked for referrals from a client I’ve only known for a matter of minutes. Many reps only think about getting referrals from someone they have worked with or had great success with. The truth is, every call can be worthy of referrals.
For more than three decades, Chris Stonick has helped thousands of organizations across the country with recruiting and retention while generating well over $100,000,000 in billing for his client radio stations. Contact Chris at 863-397-5615 or by email. Read Chris’ Radio Ink archives here.
