Cold Calling Mistake 101: Working with the Screener

“Don’t give them any information. They can’t buy from you.”

Here is another area where lots of bad information has been repeated over the years in telemarketing. Nonsense like above makes a telemarketer against the screener (e.g. secretary, front desk tellers, office staff) and technically most of telemarketers thought that a screener is nothing but a person who can contact the decision maker and will not buy from you.

Wrong. Sometimes they can indeed buy from you, and often, they may influence a decision. The one thing they can do is make sure that no one will buy from you. And by convincing them takes a little to a lot of effort and communication strategy for them to be convinced to put you through the line.

            “Answer their question abruptly, and make a demand of your own. As in ‘I’m with AB Company. Will you connect me please?’”

Oh, so that will intimidate them into putting you through? Right. People generally don’t respond all that favorably to a rude demeanor.

            “Just tell them, ‘It’s a business matter that I need to speak with him personally about.’”

You might as well say, “I’m a cheesy, self-important salesperson and I don’t respect you.”

Here’s a key point that cold callers don’t get: assistants and screeners hold the key to the buyer’s door. Treat them like dirt and you have no chance. Instead, pay close attention here, Treat the screener as you would the buyer.

That’s right. With the utmost respect. And if they want to know why you’re calling you need to be prepared to tell them.

Plus, by working with screeners instead of against them, you can actually get them to be your advocate in getting to the buyer. And I have countless examples of how a screener was actually an influencer, or sometimes an actual buyer

In addition to treating the screener like the buyer, anticipate the question, “What’s this in reference to?”, and prepare and practice your answer so it rolls smoothly off your tongue. And what exactly should that be, you might be wondering? Easy. It’s a version of your interest-creating opening where you are hinting at the possible results you might be able to deliver for them—something they might have some interest in based on your research. Notice I said results. You do not, I repeat, DO NOT want to talk about your products or services. It’s easy for screeners to say, “We already have that and are not interested.”