Fast coach

Deborah is cold-calling King Industries, expecting to get through to voicemail yet again.

Instead: "Hello, Andrew South."

"Oh, hello. Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to answer so quickly! This is Deborah Smith of Bodge IT. How are you?"

"Yes, I'm fine"

"Good, umm. Bodge IT provides a wide range of networking solutions to companies like yours.

Err, I'd like to arrange a meeting to talk about how we can help you. How about 10.30 on Tuesday or would 3pm on Thursday be better?"

(Deborah prides herself on her alternate close)

"Can you send me some literature first and I'll get back to you?" comes the response.

So, how could Deborah have improved that call?

Well, did she know that King Industries had just announced a merger?

Did she ask about the impact? Did she explain how Bodge IT might help?

In fact, she said nothing to inspire confidence or generate interest.

If she had read the business and IT press, demonstrated knowledge about King and shown genuine interest by asking open questions, she might have matched Bodge IT's capabilities to King's needs and won the multimillion-pound project to link the two IT networks.

Now all Deborah will ever get is voicemail ...

Anna Britnor Guest can be contacted on 0870 733 3313.

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