Understanding how to influence people is an important foundation for getting people's attention in a prospecting call.
No matter what you sell, people are better at ignoring you than ever before. The “Information Age” has become the “Over-Information Age” and we have become experts at filtering data or dismissing it instantly.
To add to the complexity, we have also become the “Misinformation Age” and we’ll often hear conflicting “facts” and marketing messages from competing companies. Ford Motors might claim that they have the safest car, but yesterday we heard Toyota claim that they have the safest. So who do we believe? As comedian Lewis Black pointed out, “When this happens, we just stop listening.” It’s no surprise that it’s become so difficult to gain access to key executives--it’s easier for them just to ignore us.
Here is what prospects are telling us: “I’ll only give you my attention if you can give me a compelling incentive to listen.” I call these incentives “Influence Mechanisms” and they’re designed to motivate people to meet with you, accept your calls, read your e-mail messages, or respond to your voice mails. Many of these ideas come from strategies used in sales, marketing, advertising, copywriting, and modern psychology (particularly from Robert Cialdini’s study on “automatic influence”).
One last thing--these Mechanisms were created to be used in a positive, constructive way. Never use them to manipulate or trick people. After all, you can’t force anyone to do anything they don’t want to--you’ll only end up making them angry.
While I have identified 22 individual Influence Mechanisms, there are three that are most useful in helping you gain access to key people:
Influence Mechanism #1: Social Proof
As they say in Hollywood, people care more about who you know than what you know. The same can be true for gatekeepers and executives. There are two primary ways to leverage (name drop) other people:
Leverage people you have already spoken to. Did you receive a referral that you could mention? Have you spoken with anyone else in the account (regardless of their position) that would give you more credibility? Do you work with similar executives at other companies? If so, you can leverage these existing contacts.
Leverage people you plan to speak to. If you know that there are going to be multiple people involved in the decision, then find out who they are and mention that you plan to reach out to each of them. For example, if you’re calling a VP of Sales, let him know that you also plan to call the VP of Marketing and the CEO to make sure they aren’t left out. We’ll explore this tactic later and discuss how this works with both executives and gatekeepers.
Influence Mechanism #2: Acknowledgment
When attempting to reach key executives, I’ve found that they’re more interested in what you know about them than what they’re supposed to know about you or your company. If you’ve done any research on your prospect’s company (and you should), make sure to mention this in the call. Executives want to hear that you’re prepared, and that your call has a specific purpose. An easy way to conduct your research: make a quick call to a front-line employee (like a salesperson or customer service person) and ask them a few questions.
Influence Mechanism #3: Commonality
Executives prefer to build relationships with people they can relate to on several different levels. If you want to get their attention, you need to show them you’re on the same level as they are. This is done by demonstrating that you understand their situation and the “executive mindset".
Show the executive that you understand the kind of challenges she deals with. Find out where your philosophies overlap. Most importantly, keep your conversations at a visionary level and don’t dwell on the details of your product or solution.
Using Influence Mechanisms in Cold Calling