Conducting an Effective Job Search training series

How to Raise your Return Call Batting Average

February 25, 2009, 8 AM - 9:15 AM PST

Workshop Summary

How's your return call batting average? Although email carries a lot of traffic that used to travel by phone, there are still times when there is just no substitute for reaching someone live, on the phone.

It’s ironic that a technology designed to facilitate communications – voicemail – actually makes communications more difficult.  Before we had this amazing invention called voicemail, we generally reached a human when we made a business phone call.  Talking with a live person at least gave us a chance to ask for information or an appointment.  Even then we did not always succeed, but at least we had a running chance.  

It’s no secret that with voicemail, it’s a different ball game.  The busy people we are trying to reach – and what professional is not busy? – often use their voicemail systems to screen calls.  Some don’t even pick up their phone unless they are expecting a scheduled call.  All other calls go to voicemail, to be screened later, often by an assistant.  Caller ID only makes it easier to avoid unexpected calls.  

In this environment, it is tough to get a return call from someone who does not already know us, and know that we bring value.  National surveys of “call return batting average” among sales professionals making cold calls reveal that they get between 2% and 5% of their calls returned.  No wonder people hate to initiate contact by phone.  

But there’s a better way to do this.  There are, after all, exactly two reasons why people return calls.  The first is obligation.  If our boss or spouse or an important customer leaves a message, we return that call.  But how many important people feel an obligation to return a cold call from someone they don’t know?  Obviously, very few.  So, relying on that sense of obligation to generate a return call from someone who does not know you is a weak strategy.   

The other reason people return calls is curiosity.  If we can pique their curiosity with the message we leave and make them wonder about the value we can bring to their lives, they will often return our calls.  Very often, in fact.  

In this sixty-minute class, we will teach the parts of Question Based Selling that address using curiosity to get return calls.  The strategy and techniques are ethical and common-sense, but are not taught in other methodologies.  Sales professionals who are skilled in this approach routinely get 80% of their cold calls returned.  You can, too.  Click here to download a copy of the presentation.

About the instructor. Jim Russell is a certified Question Based Selling instructor. He is a West Point graduate who commanded reconnaissance units in Germany and fought in Vietnam. He earned an MBA at the Stanford Business School and has diverse experience in marketing, sales, and team leadership, in large and small companies, in high- and low-technology, in the US and abroad. Call Jim in Seattle at 206-782-6666 or email him at jrussell@qbsresearch.com. Also see www.QBSresearch.com.