The (unwelcome) sales call

About 10 a.m., just as I was about to leave my home office for a series of errands, I heard the business line ring. A woman's voice addressed me in a manner I instinctively knew as "a salesperson reading from a script". She worked at an office supply place, but she didn't get past her first sentence before I bluntly interrupted her, saying "I don't have time for this call" and hung up.

As I got into my car, I thought about my rudeness and disrespect for someone simply doing her work.

Maybe the rep had a non-sales purpose (I didn't even give her time to make a pitch), and maybe her offer would be worthwhile and useful for my business. I didn't give her the time of day, and I'm sure, as she hung up the phone, she felt just a little less secure, and a little more frustrated with another cold call, and another cold, uninterested business owner.

A few years ago, on the advice of sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer, I tried a different approach. I asked my administrative assistant to log all the inbound calls, and put every caller through to me, unless I was in a meeting. I also committed to returning all calls -- from sales people or others -- within 24 hours, and I instructed my assistant to relay this fact to anyone who called, inviting them to leave a message or a voice mail which would be returned.

After a month, I reviewed the results. The entire amount of time spent on the phone took just a few hours. At the time, I accepted a proposal from a representative for a job creation program to provide some IT services at low cost, and fielded an insurance rep who convinced me to apply for some additional life insurance. (Because of some pre-existing conditions, it turned out the premiums would be far higher than I could justify).

I concluded that it really isn't too hard to be courteous and respectful to everyone who tries to sell me stuff, and vowed to change my ways.

So what happened today? And why do I often fail to return voice messages from sales reps?

Thinking about it, I realized that while I have a responsibility to be respectful to everyone, perhaps the sales reps have a responsibility to be respectful to me.

Surely, the person who called this morning could not have known that I was about to leave and really didn't have time to speak. But why did she have to call me? What offer is so important, valuable, and useful, that it requires the intrusion of an inbound call to a "decision maker"?

If she had something directly and specifically relevant to me -- not a canned message she would express in the same way to 100 or 1,000 other people, I would have listened, and if I had been rude, she would have been correct to phone me back and say, "Wait, really, listen, I know you."

The problem is that most people selling stuff are so busy selling their thing, that they forget that the individuals who might be appropriate to buy the service are not a cookie cutter "prospects" who fit the script. We're individuals and humans, too.

Is there a better way? Yes, and it involves some common sense and respect.

First, can you do enough homework before phoning anyone to know that the service you are offering is truly relevant. If you don't know, and need to find answers, maybe someone more junior in the business can help you with the research information.

Second, can you find a way to commence the relationship by giving or sharing something of value and utility. You probably will have trouble doing this by a blind phone call, but you can mail some information or if you have an email address, share things that way.

Third, do you really know who you are calling, and if you do, do you have some valid connection?

Say, for example, you were a printer trying to sell me printing services. Maybe you could speak with one of my best advertisers, and obtain their permission to call using their name. Do you think I would take a call on reference from one of our better clients? Absolutely.

I'm not saying that script-based telemarketing doesn't have its place -- and you can sometimes achieve worthy results playing the numbers game. And I vow to be more courteous in the future.

But sellers should appreciate that buyers don't need your call, unless you care enough to really know what is really important to them. This morning, I simply wanted to get on with the day.

Marketing, the simple way

Marc Villeneuve (right) and assistant Michel Lizotte at Viltec Masonry take care of our long-standing home masonry project. Villeneuve won the work through references from his masonry supplier, and showing up when he said he would show up.

This posting won't help you if you are a large multi-national corporation, but could be your vital survival solution if you are a small or start-up trade contractor in the residential environment.
Last week, after a years' frustration finding someone to do the job, Marc Villeneuve of Viltec Masonry completed a simple $750 job repairing the masonry at our home's rear deck window.

Hardly an earth-shattering contract, but, in context, the story can tell you about the marketing reality (and opportunities) within the construction industry.

We noticed the problem in the home exterior a couple of years ago. Perhaps unfairly, my wife takes the lead role in dealing with household issues (I am most definitely not 'handy'). But this one had her stumped. She didn't know who to call or ask, and when she called contractors they either failed to return the calls or when they showed up to inspect the project, failed to provide a quote, or return any communications. One contractor finally committed to do the work, but, again, failed to show.

Frustrated, she turned to me for advice. I didn't know anyone, but, surely, I could help. After all, I publish construction industry newspapers -- including Ottawa Construction News in our home city -- and this blog. So I thought: Longstanding advertising Merkley Supply, a masonry supplier for the industry, must know good masonry contractors willing to handle the work and maybe Robert Merkley could help. So I took a digital photo of the problem, and sent it to him.
Merkley passed the request on to an employee who provided three contractors' names for quotes.

Vivian called two of them, who showed up, and offered quotes. One said he would come back and do the job, but then, again, nothing. She handed the list back to me.

I called Marc Villeneuve. He apologized, saying, sheepishly, he had lost our phone number. He asked me to call a residential phone number (he was on a job site) with our number and he would get back and complete the work the next week.

On schedule, as promised, he showed up, took the time to do the work properly, and invoiced us.
As he prepared to pack up his truck (and I prepared to head to Vancouver), I took his picture and asked him about his business.

"I get all the work I can handle through referrals and through Merkley," he said. "I felt bad about not returning your call," he acknowledged. His problem is not finding enough work -- it is finding qualified employees who will stick. This restricts him to smaller residential projects, but he has plenty enough of these to keep him busy. He handed me his home-made business card with one border missing: "Bricklayer * Stonework * Repairs", the card says. "Quality One Brick at a Time!"

No website, no fancy marketing packages or brochures, an invitation to leave messages at a residential phone number . . . and more than enough business to keep him and an assistant busy, consistently. And he solved a problem that we couldn't resolve in more than a year of searching. Did we worry about his price? "His quote was a little higher than the other person who bid the job," my wife said, but we are happy to pay.

Listening to Marc, I sense he could grow his business through some advanced marketing systematization, first in the recruiting of employees, and then, in co-ordinating job processes. But he doesn't need to do any of that to earn a satisfactory living. He simply needs to do his work well and (at least on second try) return his calls and show up at the time specified. "Merkley won't give my name out unless I do the job really well," he said. "So I keep doing the work properly." Of course, he purchases his brick and supplies from Merkley Supplies so that relationship is healthy as well.

Consider these elements if you are not the largest in the business and wish to succeed or get started properly:

• Make sure you do your work to the highest standards;
• Return your calls;
• Check with your major suppliers and see if they can refer some business your way. If you are new, this may be your important break. Do the work with exemplary quality, and then provide feedback to your suppliers. Encourage your clients to do the same. This will result in more referrals and word of mouth.
• Remember, there may be good opportunities in handling smaller jobs -- these may keep food on your table in slow times; if you are working large projects, work out a schedule that allows you to handle the smaller jobs and revisits (without jeopardizing your relationships for the major projects.

Marc Villeneuve at Viltec Masonry can be reached at (613) 325-8542

The profit of smaller jobs

Michael Stone's Markup and Profit blog relates two entries which touch close to home (literally).

The posting: Are you throwing away small jobs?, questions why contractors ignore or fail to serve the small projects they are invited to complete. Correlating with that posting is this additional observation, Connections -- finding a contractor where Stone relates the problems many people have in just getting someone to return their call.

Ask my wife about this matter, and you'll receive a handful of frustrating observations, and what makes this worse, is that I have 'connections'. After all, I publish construction trade newspapers and have been in this business close to two decades. So when she asked for assistance in finding someone to handle a small masonry job around the house, I went to one of the best known renovation contractors and the local commercial brick dealer -- both of whom I have good relationships with -- and asked for referrals. (I didn't expect them to be able to do the work required, but had confidence they could provide names of qualified contractors.)

We received five names from the two referring sources -- and Vivian called all of them. One of them showed up, but has yet to produce a quote.

Sure, the job is small, but we aren't trying to be cheapskates here; we are quite willing to allow for markup to allow for time and inconvenience -- and if we don't have more work that needs to be done, I certainly can spread the word and help their businesses (without pushing them to advertise or anything like that).

It's a puzzling dilemma that we see all around us. Contractors crying there isn't enough work; and consumers complaining they can't find anyone to do the job. Why is this happening?

Phone message courtesy

This image arises from my search on Google images for "returning calls" -- it is from a posting of someone reporting on their efforts to build a patio deck -- New Patio -- or -- How long does it Take? The story, alas, shows some of what is wrong with the industry -- with reliability, delays, poor communications, and more described. Ouch!

As you know, I advocate returning all calls asap -- whether or not they appear to have immediate business value. Even if the message is for 'rote' solicitation call, you can still courteously decline (often by leaving a voice message). And I've found much profitable business often results from returning these calls and discovering that the opportunity to purchase is an opportunity to do business -- though of course I never force the issue.

One thing I notice in returning calls, however, is how few people who leave a message have the courtesy to make it easy for me to take down the information to return their call. They rush through their contact information and phone number at the end of a lengthy message. This means that I have to replay the message one, two, or sometimes three times to get the information I need to respond. (No wonder why I prefer people to communicate by email!)

The solution to this problem is simple -- slow down, and repeat your contact information and number twice, spelling out your name if need be. It just takes a few seconds at your end, but makes it much easier for the person you are calling to return the call.

The little details count (about returning calls)

I committed a significant error over the past five days -- failing to practice what I preach. On Friday afternoon, someone called me to say they wanted to place a classified ad in Ottawa Construction News. About to head on a semi-vacation to New York City, I ignored the call -- since we don't have a classified section in our publications.

I didn't return t he call on Monday as I travelled to NYC; then on Tuesday, the same person left another voice message and also sent an email. Now I may be as thick as molasses, but this person clearly wanted to talk with me. So what did I do. Again, I ignored the call (I'm on vacation, eh) but replied with an email referencing the person to one of my employees who has responsibility for selling advertising for the Ottawa market.)

Then, yesterday, five days too late, I received a flash of rather delayed insight. Look, the person called me, not my employee, and she called on Friday; five days previously. And I thought it adequate to sluff this call off with an email to an employee -- without checking with or briefing the employee or person who called (and the employee just happened to be busy at a trade show that day).

So I finally did what I should have done the previous Friday afternoon. I returned the call. No, 24 hours after sending the email referencing the caller to my employee, the employee had failed to return her call. Bad. But even badder for me -- as I set the tone of what we define as acceptable responses to client inquiries -- in fact any legitimate in-bound call. The caller, indeed, had a legitimate advertising request; something of relevance to our readers and highly appropriate to our publication.

I'm responsible here for this failure, and hope I've learned my own lesson about the importance of returning calls promptly.

Who answers the phone?

Seth Godin references this Boingboing blog entry with a 1931 image showing students how the dial phone works. Perhaps we should relearn the basics.

Seth Godin has captured one of the most important marketing messages on the first ring in this blog entry, "Who answers the phone?" The question of how initial phone inquiries are handled can be extended throughout the business; rote, insensitive, and ill-thought (or no) response to phone calls/messages does absolutely no good for your business or brand;thoughtful, fast, and human rather than rote responses will work wonders for your brand, and will do a whole lot more for your business than the slickest brochure or website.

More and more these days, the phone is a secondary method of communication. Many mornings when I am working, I will be at the laptop, exchanging dozens of email messages. Although my phone number is widely displayed, I actually receive few calls. The reason is that the work involved in communicating at both ends is much higher than email -- which allows you to send your message at your convenience (and for you to respond equally at your convenience). The phone is an intrusion -- even when you are set up with a public number to welcome inbound calls -- so what do we do in business?

• We hire telemarketers (or worse yet, computers, to make outbound calls, to bug people, irritate them, and cause them to put up screens and set up answering machines to avoid inbound calls;

and

• We use the same screens (or ill-trained employees) to answer the in-bound calls.

The solution to this problem is to treat all inbound calls with respect, quickly separate the solicitation (or rote survey calls) for a polite decline, and then, listen carefully to the other calls, whether they be a client inquiry or a service request or (gulp) someone perhaps wanting to do business with us.

Perhaps the biggest challenge here is to have employees who can throw the script away and truly engage with the client. This isn't easy -- especially when in certain circumstances the inbound calls seem to follow their own predictable script. And clearly you don't want someone speaking spontaneously and carelessly -- you really don't know if the inbound caller is preparing a lawsuit or representing a competitor!

But I think if you look at the numbers, you'll see something interesting. Say you are a mid-size business preparing to spend $200,000 on a marketing campaign. Wouldn't it make sense to take $20,000 from that budget, pay it to the front-line person who answers your phone, and give the new employee a fancier title than 'receptionist'. And if you are a smaller business, without that type of marketing budget, please remember my previous posting where I advocate that brand is defined less by money than time -- that is your (and your employees') concern and respect for their clients.

P.S. Do we totally adhere to these standards: I wish so, but we have a less-than-perfect voice mail system, and too many of our calls find their way to slow-response limbo (including ones for me). It is something we will fix, and I will measure our progress. If you call me at 888-432-3555 ext. 224, will you get an answer right away (not now, I am at the OGCA symposium) and, if not, can you reach someone 'real' who cares right away (right now, only within business hours, but the phone rings to my home when I'm out of the office), and if not these two, will I return your call within one business day or at the time you request? Feel free to find out, and tell me how we are doing.

Simple things, really

These short sleeve dress shirts are available from Great Price, a division of Uniformalwearhouse LLC in New Jersey, online for less than $13.00 each. You can build your brand by buying a stack of these (and at this price, compared to a Yellow Pages ad, they could be disposable and still save you money!)

Yesterday, in an exchange of comments with Sonny Lykos, I asked for some industry-specific suggestions to create "Brand Harmony". I asked for the suggestions, because Steve Yastrow's Brand Harmony book (which Lykos graciously gifted to me) is full of examples from the airline, hospitality, and car rental industries -- but a little short on examples from construction.


Lykos, in his comment, wrote

Branding is simply what the customer thinks of you. It's that simple. It's not a logo. It's not a discount. It's not "only" the caliber of your work. Their perception is based upon a compilation of every single contact anyone from your company has had with them, and believe it or not, that includes how those in the company answer the phone, what they say, and their manner. It's the opposite of what one specialty contractor said to me when I called him for the first time: "Yea!"

I simply said: "I have the wrong number." and hung up. "I'm semiretired, yet even while working only part-time, my prices continue to be double to triple my supposed competition.

Your readers would be very smart for starters, to buy and read "Brand Harmony." And if they really understand the contents of the book, they will incorporate what's in it and begin to enjoy substantial increased margins, while reducing aggravation and time, in the running of their business.

The key is to not just "satisfy" a customer. Many business do just that, merely satisfy them. The key is to WOW each customer. Treat them in a manner that is the opposite of what they expect, and the opposite of what they expect because what they expect is the public's knowledge of the lousy reputation of our industry.

Or don't bother and keep the status quo - fighting for every job, and at less than you desire. Understand that "branding" brings the customer - and sales - to you, instead of you having to continually advertise and market while trying to sell yourself to them.

Remember, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Target, Big lots, Family Dollar Store, and the like are all in the same category, the low end, and there are many of them. But how many Dillards exist? Don't brand yourself as a Chevy, but as a Cadillac or Lincoln, and with each hour prove that you're worth every dollar.

In an email exchange, I noted:

Sonny, thanks for your most recent comments. I will expand on these (and quote from them) in my next blog entry tomorrow morning. It is interesting how the simple things are important to establish the basis of brand – but it is scary to think that dressing neatly, answering the phone, and doing little favours is enough to create ‘wow’ reactions within the construction industry – of course it has always been my contention that just a little common sense marketing will go miles within this industry simply because it is so unsophisticated about marketing principals.

Lykos's response:

Correct. You would not believe just in the comments that I, a tradesman, wears short sleeve, button down collar, white dress shirts (Wal-Mat $12) and kaiki pleated pants ($15), and shined brown shoes. And people are surprised when I call in advance even if only think I might be 5 minutes late. I get the same "No one does that any more" nearly every time.

I deliberately 'broke style and have enlarged the last quotes from Lykos here. Look. Wearing neat clothes costing $27 at Wal-Mart, and calling in advance when you think you might be late (Priceless), are the sorts of thing that create your brand. And are rather easy to implement systematically -- you can insist your employees follow these rules. The fact remains, the construction industry is so far behind the rest of the business community, you only need to be mediocre in business/branding practices within this industry to assume a leadership role and reap the rewards of effective branding. And this is especially the case if you find yourself a much-maligned, exploited and frustrated sub trade contractor scraping for bidding opportunities!

The advantage of returning calls rapidly

Charles H. Green in his blog makes clear that the "Single Fastest Thing You Can Do Increase Trust" is to waste no time in returning calls and emails -- and he explains why in his revealing posting.

Sometimes the most effective business practices are the simplest, and we need to be reminded of them. This posting does just that, very effectively.

Speed matters

I think public relations consultant Ronn Torossian makes a really good point in his brief blog entry:

http://ronntorossian.blogspot.com/2007/10/speed-matters.html

I wish I could say I have always practiced what Torossian is preaching here -- but there is a good argument for returning all your calls promptly, including so-called 'nuisance' calls from salespeople. (If they take enough time to leave you a voice message, they deserve a prompt and courteous response, even if it is a 'no'.) And of course clients and potential clients undoubtedly will form a much more positive impression about your work -- which will move quickly -- if you respond without delay to their calls.