Salespeople, Your Buyers' Communication Preferences Are More Important Than Yours

即使随着社交媒体的兴起和商业电子邮件的普遍性，电话对话通常仍然是最好的交流方法，尤其是用于销售和购买的方式。但这并不意味着销售人员应立即坚持打电话来忽略其潜在客户的偏好。

我认为手机是我出售时与潜在客户沟通的卓越方式。但是，当我研究解决方案时，我的个人喜好是电子邮件。我一直在接收到太多不良销售电话的接收端，在安排电话和必须进行介绍性的聊天之间，要花太长时间才能到达我们要谈论的话题关于。

即使我尝试在介绍性电话上帮助销售人员，他们仍然经常发臭。通常，他们无法偏离脚本问题和故事。更糟糕的是，他们的议程通常很明显，并且反对我的议程。

因此，当我调查解决方案并大致了解我想要什么时，询问我认为我在电子邮件中需要什么的效率更高。由于我很容易承认我不知道的东西，因此我也愿意通过电子邮件回答问题。您可能会认为这会使销售人员的生活更加轻松，因为我从字面上说明了自己的目标。但是许多代表非常盲目地专注于“预订”，以至于他们错过了与电子邮件进行参与和帮助的机会。

当代表忽略买家的交流偏好时会发生什么

When I started a free trial of a service the other day, I experienced the perfect example of a salesperson completely missing and/or ignoring my preference for email. After browsing the site to try and figure out if the service could help me, I saw a free trial button and completed the form. I was expecting to get instant access to the free trial. No dice. I left the site disappointed and ended up using a competitive offering instead because it offered a full-featured 30-day trial.

An hour later, I received this note from an SDR at the first company after his call rolled to voicemail. (I don't answer my phone any more.)

虽然这不是乔的错,这家公司显然bob全站appuses a bait-and-switch approach to free trials. Not a good start. I wrote back:“如果我不符合资格，那没关系。我会找到另一个来源。现在就与一起去。”

乔回答：

我不相信实际上有一个以上的审判，所以我直截了当地向乔发送了五句话的描述，描述了我要完成的工作。我问他指向他是否能够在他的产品中完成该项目。

该产品的用例非常简单，简短的视频或文章可能向我展示了如何完成项目。乔没有试图帮助我，而是完全忽略了我的问题，并通过以下电子邮件将我传递给了企业销售代表：

乔copied and pasted our previous correspondence, so Bob should have known that I didn't want to get on a phone call. You can probably guess what happened. Instead of asking how I'd like to proceed, Bob called me, left a voicemail, and then followed up with an email asking, "What time works best to hop on a call?" What really annoyed me is the level of presumption that exists in that question.

I finally responded to Joe and Bob with the following,“Was hoping to just get access to a free trial. The link I clicked wasn't“我们有资格的自由审判。””

但是鲍勃无情。他回信：

三封电子邮件后，我终于可以访问审判 - 最初注册一封后30小时。在这段时间，I was asked to get on a phone call five times.

When I finally logged into this company’s trial, the interface was easy enough to understand. I figured out that it could ultimately do what I wanted to do, but when I tried to test the functionality for the first time, I was shown a CTA to call a phone number because I "exceeded my limit." I realized the only thing this company lets you trial is their interface.

我通过以下电子邮件联系了乔：

鲍勃回答：

So, where did this go wrong?

顺便说一句，该公司的审判过程落后于竞bob全站app争对手。我唯一要说的是：如果这家公司要继续进行审判，他们需要教他们的代表如何以销售方式而不bob全站app是反对它。等待30个小时才能访问，而代表试图预订资格通话是一种荒谬的诱饵和开关方法。

With regards to Bob's sales strategy, it seems he was only interested in immediate enterprise sales opportunities. I have the title of someone who can decide to purchase his product -- or at least influence it. While I wasn't interested in a larger relationship at the present time, there's no telling how HubSpot's needs could change down the line, and Bob seemingly had no interest in developing a relationship that could lead to a bigger deal in the long run.

鲍勃还没有适应他的策略。不要误会我的意思 - 我众所周知，“接听电话”给我的销售代表很多次。就像我上面说的那样，现场通话是试图区分产品或服务的销售人员的出色沟通工具，因此我了解鲍勃为什么想通过电话进行发现。但是我显然不想像许多潜在客户一样接听电话。

要求我五次打电话不起作用。鲍勃本来应该早点服用不同的钉子。他可以做什么不同？他本可以问我一些有关我的需求的问题，告诉我如何完成（或者我无法完成），或者提议带我完成如何在审判中完成它。这是鲍勃的有效音符可能是这样的：

具有讽刺意味的是，上面的任何问题都可能让我打电话给我。我起草的电子邮件将证明鲍勃愿意提供帮助，这会让我放弃我的警卫。我已经开始解释我试图通过电子邮件做的事情，如果被问到我会详细说明，这本来可以给鲍勃的选择，可以为我提供产品演练或取消我的资格。取而代之的是，他们的过程过于集中于让我打电话，以使我有资格是否有企业机会。

The big takeaway from this experience is that salespeople need to be a lot less rigid about their own communication preferences and adapt to the buyer.

Here are are a few tips for determining and adapting to your buyer’s communication preference.

1) The way buyers initiate communication or respond to you is an indication of their preference.

Today, many sales conversations start over email. Most prospects don't answer the phone or return voicemails. Nevertheless, since phone is better and there’s no way of knowing a prospect’s preference, the best salespeople still just pick up the phone and try to catch prospects. They also leave voicemails. But if a prospect responds by email, that it is a good indication that email is their preference. If they call you back, the phone is probably their preference. If they respond via InMail on Linkedin or direct messages on Twitter, go with that approach for awhile.

2) Always send a follow-up email after you leave prospecting voicemails.

如果电子邮件是他们的偏好，这为潜在客户提供了一种更轻松的响应方法。即使他们的笔记无效，鲍勃和乔确实发送了后续电子邮件。尽管这一过程取得了成果，但这仍然使我参与其中。

3）询问买家的沟通偏好。

当我出售时，我倾向于写道：“如果您更容易，我可以通过电话获得。”这并不是一个问题，但是如果他们通过电子邮件将我写回来，而不是安排电话，我现在有一个线索，说明他们的喜好是什么。我从来没有写过：“什么时候可以接听15分钟的电话？”

4) Include your calendar link in your email.

写道,“这是一个链接到我的日程表can schedule time directly if you’d like.” Also include that link in your email signature. That way, prospects can schedule time easily if that’s their preference. You’re making it easier for them to choose phone without even asking them. The会议应用程序在HubSpot中，销售可以为您简化此过程。这就是它的样子：

一个警告：If a prospect writes you back, it’s okay to just call them.一旦潜在客户通过电子邮件回复，拨打和开始对话没有错，“认为通过电话交谈会更容易。你有五分钟吗？”

If they don't give you permission to proceed, ask,“How can I best help you evaluate our ability to meet your needs?”If they don't pick up the phone, don't make“我们可以安排15分钟吗？”您的下一个通过电子邮件询问。如果您采取行动的呼吁，您将错过机会通过电子邮件进行对话。取而代之的是，考虑一个关于他们的兴趣的开放式问题，如果这对他们更方便，就可以打电话。

One word of caution:要特别小心，不要假设您的偏好是他们的偏好。请注意不要向另一个方向摆动太远，并假设电子邮件是您的潜在客户的偏好，只是因为这是您的偏好。这篇文章不应该证明电子邮件是一种更好的通信方法。要记住的关键是要注意买方的偏好并相应地适应。有效地使用他们首选的交流方法，您将有机会获得信誉，并增加他们意识到与您打电话值得的机会。

Everybody Is Different, And That’s Okay

我妻子说“Everybody is different, and that's okay,”我儿子彼得（Peter）表示偏爱不同的事情时。

In all aspects of life, it's important to be tolerant of other people’s differences. It’s a sign of respect and appreciation for a fellow human being. This type of appreciation is key to initiating a relationship with someone new -- say, like a buyer. So why don’t salespeople respect the communication preferences of their prospects?

也许销售人员认为他们的偏好更为重要。也许他们被指示忽略了潜在客户的偏好。也许他们对潜在客户说：“当然，让我们打电话。”

无论出于何种原因，现状都是明确的。鲍勃（和许多其他销售人员）似乎不明白，在销售中，他们自己的沟通偏好并不重要。

适应您的买家或失去机会

在前几天与Trish Bertuzzi的电子邮件交流中，她写信给我，“电子邮件不是我选择的通信工具。我是一个电话女孩。你震惊吗？”I was not shocked since she is the founder of inside sales consulting group,桥梁小组和作者Sales Development Playbook, and she understands the power of the phone. So now I (and you) know Trish's preference. But most buyers won’t be as upfront as Trish is. It’s your job to read your prospects' behavior to maximize your chances of connecting. You can’t make sales if you can’t get past this part of the process.

使用上面的提示来揭示潜在客户的沟通偏好，并根据发现的内容来调整您的方法。

P.S. I always respond to blog comments. Feel free to disagree.