//ow to use the telephone salesman's talk over the phone must be carefully planned so as to dominate the entire conversation, to be strong in positive suggestion, to stick strictly to the subject that he is striving to emphasize and to leave little or nothing to the prospect's deliberation. To show just exactly what we mean, we will give a more or less typical phone conversation between salesman and prospect, supposing that the salesman is arrang ing for an appointment.
"Mr. Prospect, this is Mr. Salesman of Blank and Blank calling. I have a business proposition I wish to talk over with you. What is the most convenient time of day to see you? If I call between ten and eleven this morning, will you be in your office?", It will be noticed that this question calls for the simple answer yes or no. If the answer is yes, the salesman should come back with: "All right, I will see you at that time," terminate the interview as quickly as he can with courtesy, and hang up the receiver.
If the answer is no, he should suggest a different time for the interview, in some such way as this: "Well, would some time between two and three this afternoon be better for you?" The salesman should always suggest the time of the appointment, in order to leave as little as possible to the prospect's decision. He will thus prevent the de lay that would result from the prospect's deliberation as to the time that would be convenient to him. In other words, the question suggesting a definite time is strong in positive suggestion.
There is another way, of course, in which the pros pect may reply : "Well, Mr. Salesman, what is it that you wish to see me about ?" This question should be given some such answer as, "Well, we will let that go until I see you, Mr. Prospect," or, "I'll tell you about that when I call." This is best said half laughingly and should be closely followed up with, "Let me drop in and have a little talk with you some time today, Mr. Prospect—shall we say, about 2.30 this after noon?" The principle here is that the phone conversation must be held strictly to the purpose that the salesman desires it to accomplish. He should bear in mind that he is striving merely for an appointment and should not by any chance, allow the conversation to become a presentation of his proposition. He should always be prepared with some such remark as, "Seriously, Air. Prospect, I don't think it would be possible for us to discuss my proposition satisfactorily over the phone, and I do want to sit down with you at your desk for a few minutes. Will you be at your offiCe this afternoon?" I-Ic should always bring the conver sation back to a definite suggestion for an appoint ment, for he will thus place the prospect in a position where he must eventually either agree to an interview or refuse pointblank to see the salesman. In neglect
of this point lies the weakness of most salesmen's ef forts to secure appointments over the phone; and it ex plains why many houses discourage their salesmen from using the phone. Unless specific conditions war rant such a method, the salesman who endeavors to present his proposition to a prospect over the phone is at a serious disadvantage. It is much easier for the prospect to turn the salesman down without an ade quate hearing under such circumstances than it would be if the two were face to face.
Furthermore, the presentation of the salesman is usually designed to appeal to the sight as well as to the hearing of the prospect—the salesman's oral state ments are visualized and illustrated by samples or equipment, and the opportunity lo use this part of the selling appeal is, of course, lost if there is no personal interview.
12. Disadvantage of too definite appointme4ts.- There is one disadvantage connected with definite ap pointments, unless they come the first thing in the morning, or possibly the first thing in the afternoon. Some of the salesman's time that could be used to ad vantage must inevitably be wasted. For example, let us say that a salesman in presenting his proposition usually spends anywhere from twenty minutes to two hours with a prospect. Let us further suppose that he has completed an interview with one prospect at 9.30 A. M. and has an appoinment with another at 10 o'clock. He will hesitate to call on a third prospect between 9.30 and 10, even in the same neighborhood, for fear of having to run away in the middle of that interview to keep his 10 o'clock appointment. Conse quently, he wastes a half hour. Two or three situa tions like this in a day would seriously interfere with steady, effective work. Furthermore, the salesman cannot arrange his definite appointments closely to gether without uncertainty as to his ability to keep them punctually. It is suggested, therefore, that ex cept for the first thing in the morning and possibly the first thing in the afternoon, the salesman avoid making definite, on-the-minute appointments whenever pos sible, and rather make appointments in the manner suggested above—that is, "between nine and ten," "be tween two and three," or, "some time this afternoon." Few men who are going to be in their offices anyhow will insist that the hour be more specific.