Top 10 Tips for dealing with Email Fob Offs

A typical request when doing telemarketing, telesales or cold calling is ‘can you send me more information by email / post?’ But what’s the response to this request? To send or not to send? To challenge them or not?  

This type of request is becoming a more common barrier and objection to move forwards when prospecting by telephone.

1. Make sure the person who is asking is the decision-maker for your products and services. If not, find out who is and ideally go and talk to them. If that’s not possible, find out the level of influence and gain a commitment for them to share it as a precursor to a meeting with them and the decision-maker.

2. The purpose of your call is to make a sale or to ‘sell’ a meeting. So, don’t be diverted from this task. Ask for a meeting and explain that this is the best method of answering their questions.

3. Prospects may ask for information because it is their preferred method of communication, because they are busy or because they want to get rid of you. Identify what the reason is through conversation and questions

4. Listen to how enthusiastic the request for information is. If it doesn’t sound like it’s genuine and they’re interested, they probably aren’t!

5. Build rapport during the process as this is a precursor to a meeting and may avoid you needing to send info.

6. If it is a genuine request for info, qualify it further so as to be able to send pertinent information to the prospect. Use the request as a means to gather more information on the prospect and their company. In this process, you might secure a meeting rendering the need to send info unnecessary.

7. Challenge the prospect using a strong question as to whether the request is a fob off.

8. Gain a commitment from the prospect to read the info by a certain date and to a return call.

9. Tailor the information to what you’ve identified that they want to hear about. Send it out the same day or the following day at the latest. Make sure that the objective of the information is to move to the next step not simply to provide the information.

10. Send a confirmation of the return call and time with the information as if it were a meeting.

Read the full article or Next Tips