Field Report - Kristen

Please note that I am now using the following abbreviations for the prospecting phases, similar to but different from the PUA equivalent. I am calling this ABC Prospecting:

A - Attract	B - Bond	C - Close
A1 - Advertising	B1 - Comfort	C1 - Sales Presentation
A2 - Sorting	B2 - Connection	C2 - Follow Up
A3 - Qualifying	B3 - Intimacy	C3 - Payment

I just got off the phone with Kristen, and I wanted to write this up real quick--it's a perfect example of what not to do!  Ack!  OK, maybe it wasn't that bad.  Here's what happened:

When someone has clicked on my website, but not opted in, I send them a postcard at the end of the month. Kristen called because she had received the postcard.  She was very guarded and said, "I got a postcard and it said to call you."

I had not prepared for such a call! I said, "How're you doing today?" And she said, "Fine." -- very guarded. I said, "Really? You sound a little tired or something." She laughed, I said, "Ah! I got you to laugh...that's good." (I'm still scrambling to get my bearings and collect my notes). "So what do you do now?," I asked. She said "I watch my 4 year old, and it doesn't pay very well." We both laughed, and I followed up with "Do you have any other kids?" And we talked about that for a little bit. Notice what I was doing wrong here --> I TOTALLY skipped the attraction phase and tried to build comfort! Of course she was guarded! She had no investment in the interaction. She had no reason to be on her best behavior.

Eventually, I got set up and back tracked to A1 questions: So what attracted you to my postcard...what made you want to call me? By then, however, she had lost trust in me and started badgering me with questions. "What is this? The postcard doesn't say anything." I told her there was a website on the front of the card and then said, "Let me just back up a little bit and tell you why you got the card." After I did that I said, "So Kristen, since the ad you responded to was pretty general, let me tell you a little but about me and what I'm looking for, then we can see if we might have a good fit here. Sound good?"

"Okay..." -- very guarded.

So I went into my little pitch, which included a DHV spike, and ended with "What I'm really looking for is..." and "Does that sound like you?"

She said, "What is it?"

I said again, "Does that sound like you?"

She said, "No, not really." So I said, "OK, then what I would recommend is that you visit the website on the front of the card, find out a little bit more about me and what I'm about, and if you find that you want to talk again, you have my number."

She said, "OK, sounds good." Now she seemed very happy (because I didn't try to sell her or convince her of anything? possibly...), and she wished me a good day.

Yikes! What could I have done differently?

Well, I should have immediately taken control of the frame. I could have asked, "Kristen, is the postcard addressed to you?" If so, I could have made her wait while I pulled up her record. If no, I could have pulled up the person it WAS addressed to and changed it. Then when I asked her "And why did you want to talk to me today (what attracted you to the card, etc.)?" Then, "And what's the main reason you're looking for a business of your own?"

THEN I could have responded with "Let me tell you a little bit about me and what I'm looking for..."

She may have had the same reaction...still answered no to "Does that sound like you?"...but at least I wouldn't feel so yucky. At least I would have been in control.

Ah well, live and learn. Or live and calibrate, as Mystery would say.